Tyler’s downtown will be teeming with visitors as the Texas Downtown Revitalization Conference is held next week. The conference is a joint educational project of the Texas Downtown Association and the Texas Main Street Program of the Texas Historical Commission. The historic First Baptist Church in downtown Tyler will serve as conference headquarters.
Downtown development professionals, Main Street staff, city development staff, preservationists, economic development and tourism specialists will be among those who come to Tyler for the event, which is set for Nov. 3-6.
“We are so pleased to host this event,” said Tyler Main Street Director Beverly Abell, who also serves as vice president of the statewide organization. “Tyler has not hosted the conference in 15 years, and we consider it a great honor to be chosen to host once more.”
Upwards of 200 people traditionally come to the event, Abell said. The conference will consist of classroom workshop sessions, tours, on-site technical demonstrations, site visits and more. Class subjects range from learning details of the International Existing Buildings Code to the role of arts in economic development.
Abell said she is especially proud of how “meaty” the subject matter is for the conference. “Our planning committee really worked hard to identify educational subjects that will provide immediate and lasting impact for those who attend and the communities they serve,” Abell said. “In addition, we were fortunate enough to recruit some really top-flight people to present the information.”
Among the presenters will be Veletta Lill of the Dallas Arts District, Leah Brown of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, former International Downtown Association President Jane Jenkins, and Mary Means, an internationally known downtown expert who is credited with being part of the creation of the Main Street downtown economic development program. She also served as one of the consultants on the downtown portion of the Tyler 21 master plan.
Other events include an “Evening of Wine and Roses” opening reception in downtown that will feature Discovery Science Place, the Moore Grocery Lofts and the Goodman-LeGrand Museum. All of the sites, Abell said, are top three finalists in the Texas Downtown Association’s President’s Awards Gala.
A tour of downtown Mineola will be offered, and conference participants will also have the opportunity to take a tour of Tyler’s residential areas that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Longview’s Main Street program will host a Wednesday evening in the community’s downtown district.
The highlight of the week will be the President’s Awards Gala held at the Municipal Rose Garden. The state’s top downtown revitalization projects will be honored. Abell said four Tyler nominees were named to the Top Three in their award categories. Tyler finalists are: Discovery Science Place, best downtown business; Moore Grocery Lofts, best adaptive reuse project; Goodman-LeGrand Museum, best marketing project, and City of Tyler, best public partner.
The community has been very supportive of the conference, Abell said. “Hundreds of hours of volunteer time have been donated to the cause by our volunteers and partners,” Abell said. “They have contributed work on everything from serving as greeters, decorating for events and even making hand-made gifts for all conference participants.”
Those who want more information on the conference should go to the Texas Downtown Revitalization site at www.texasdowntown.org.