Tyler Mayor Don Warren shares the progress taking place in the city. From the grand opening of the WT Brookshire Conference Center to the establishment of the UT Tyler School of Medicine, Tyler is on an upward trajectory. The city is buzzing with a vibrant downtown revival, bringing to life a plethora of restaurants, stores, apartments and condos. Warren also discusses plans for the downtown square and the ongoing downtown revitalization project.
Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. We like to check in each quarter with Tyler Mayor Don Warren to keep track of the goings on in our evolving community, and he’s here with us today. Welcome.
Don Warren: Hello, Mike. How are you?
Mike Landess: I’m doing good. Now, so the new theme for Tyler is “Tyler transforming”? Tell us more about that.
Don Warren: Well, correct, Tyler is transforming. And if you look at all the things that have taken place over the last 12 months and even six months, 12 months, eight months, that matter there’s things going on. We opened up the WT Brookshire Conference Center, which has been a big deal. And we were working out the kinks, and there were a few kinks, but we’re working through the punch list, working on downtown still and have all kinds of plans for downtown. But there are so many things going on just all over the community, not only with the city but in the private investment world, with the opening, or the building, of the new medical school, which is a big deal. And we got a new Brookshire’s coming in on the West Loop.
Mike Landess: Yes, that’s one of the questions I had for you, because I know that it seemed like for years and years everything kept moving south, south, further south and that sort of thing. And then now, a Brookshire’s next to Sam’s Club? That’s south, southwest.
Don Warren: That is, and I think there’s going to be some other things coming soon in that same area. And I’ve talked to the developer from Dallas, and they’re very excited about it. We’ve worked with them for the past couple of years on the West Loop, and it’s starting to evolve. And what I call the things that are evolving are what I call the East-West Corridor, which I may have mentioned to you before, but you know we have a lot of growth in the city, not just in South Tyler, and you think of UT Tyler. You’ve got the new nursing school building going on outside, and then you go west and you got TJC, which is expanding, you got the medical school, you got the WT Brookshire, you got the downtown. As you go further west, there’s just things going on all over what we call Midtown.
Mike Landess: It is exciting to see this all happening in such a fairly short period of time, comparatively. Where there was a long, there was a lull. In fact, talking with Henry Bell not long ago, he was saying that it was like ’89 or ’90 when the oil boom went bust. And they realized we need to diversify. We got to reach out beyond where we’ve been reaching out before. And it’s taken some time, but by golly, it sure seems to be happening.
Don Warren: Well, it is happening. And I’m basically a pretty impatient guy. And I don’t want to do master plans that go mmm, that are put on the shelf. You know, if we’re going to do a master plan, let’s do it a way that the project is achievable and is not dreaming too big. So when we do these master plans, we do them in phases and something that you can accomplish. And we’re going to accomplish them.
Mike Landess: The term “chewable bites” comes to mind.
Don Warren: Yes, you eat one elephant-I guess you eat an elephant one bite at a time.
Mike Landess: One bite at a time. We can see the progress being made in repopulating downtown Tyler. Restaurants, stores, nearby apartments and condos are filling up. How is the overall downtown revitalization going?
Don Warren: Well, it’s going really well. And, the people my age are very excited about it. Younger people are very excited about it. You know the occupancy level of downtown is on-in the office buildings, has grown unbelievably. The People’s Petroleum building, which I think was 11% occupied, you know years ago, is now 99%. The Plaza is over 90%. Regents Bank is over 90%. And one thing that I think will blow everybody’s mind is, downtown occupancy and office space is actually higher than it is at any other part of Tyler. So that means, you know, downtown is growing and is attracting people from all over the community.
Mike Landess: How’s it going with the consultant firm? Is it Tool? Is that the name of the company?
Don Warren: That’s right, and Tool started us off. They gave us a concept. But the concept was very broad and wasn’t very specific. But it gave us ideas about narrowing down the streets and widening the sidewalk, so that you can have tables for restaurants outdoors. And it gave us ideas about the downtown square and having two-way traffic and getting rid of the lights. And so they gave us these ideas, but we need to nail it down. So, we’re working with an architect and engineer, land planners, to now define exactly what we want to do, and work with people and price it out, find out what it’s going to cost. And then, once again, once we determine the cost, phase it out. And I would say, the first phase will probably be the downtown square.
Mike Landess: What kinds of plans do you have for the downtown square? What kind of ideas have been put forth?
Don Warren: Well, we’re going to be pretty simple. I think what you’ll end up seeing on the square is a large grassy area. I think you’ll see trees along the perimeter. I think you’ll see some restrooms, some public restrooms, that are done in a way that they’re almost hidden. And so it’s an exciting thing. And, to go one step further, when there’s functions downtown, like with a big band. And in the past…
Mike Landess: Red Dirt Festival…
Don Warren: Red Dirt, and also the Rose Festival. You know, you’d had the stage down on the east end. So the guys are up on the stage and they’re performing, and what are they looking at? They’re looking at the sun. The sun sets in the west, and here it is right in their eyes. And so we found out that that doesn’t work. And so we’re thinking about the stage should go on the corner of Erwin and Broadway. And so we’re kind of doing the square in a manner to where your focal point can be from the square to the stage at a better, better spot. And so we’ll have our green space, which will have a sitting area with a canopy, so if you get your Andy’s custard, you can go under a canopy and eat without being in the sunshine and having it melt. And, there may be a little amphitheater area that’s slanted, that’ll face this stage. And so we’re gonna have some things on the west side of the square that you won’t see on the east.
Mike Landess: So what’s the high-five moment going to be in the next quarter, quarter number 3?
Don Warren: I think downtown will be something that will move forward fairly quickly. But there’s so many things going on, and I gotta go to South Broadway.
Mike Landess: OK, let’s hear it.
Don Warren: And this is one thing that I’ve really been excited about, because people complain to me all the time about the traffic on South Broadway. And because of the lights and the re-timing of the lights and all the new equipment we’re putting on, there’s actually a 30% reduction in wait time on South Broadway. But, if South Broadway continues to have new businesses-South Broadway is in the top 50 of the most congested streets in the state of Texas. So what do you do about it? Well, we could do nothing. Well, actually we should have done something 20 years ago, but we didn’t. So we’re actually working on a south Tyler mobility study to figure out other ways to get traffic off of Broadway and whether to get it over to Paluxy or to get it over to Old Jacksonville highway. We’re looking at a route, and we’re starting this study to figure out what do we do about the traffic.
Mike Landess: And is there money set aside for that? Is that something you’re gonna have to go asking for help with?
Don Warren: Well, we don’t have the money set aside to build the streets. But we just completed, are completing Cambridge Road, which was well over $10 million and so, but it was something that was needed. So once we decide what the need is, then we have to figure out a way to fund it.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been Tyler Mayor Don Warren. To hear this conversation again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler radio.
Jeff Johnson: Thank you for listening to the UT Tyler Radio Podcast on 99.7 KVUT. If you’d like to hear this episode again, or if you missed a previous episode, find the UT Tyler Radio Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or click “podcasts” on our website, KVUT.org.
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