Construction on Ed Thompson's Majesty Events Center in Tyler, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

A Tyler man is building a new events center on the corner of West Bow Street and North Palace Avenue.

Ed Thompson, a general contractor who is best known for building homes, said his crew has completed the framing work and plans to have the facility open in early 2019.

The location at 900 W. Bow St. is a 24,000 square foot building that historically had a convenience store on one side, a nightclub on the other and several gas pumps outside in a parking lot area.

The convenience store was most recently called the A&W Food Mart, and previously Safeway Grocery, with about 3,000 square feet of space, according to Thompson. The attached facility, formerly called Club Skyy, has another 21,000 square feet of space.

Club Skyy closed in the summer of 2017, Thompson said. He bought the whole building this past spring for about $2 million, and closed down the convenience store. Now, he and his crew are on track to put about $1.5 million into renovations.

Thompson said he wants to keep the gas pumps but put them under the brand Mobil, turn the convenience store into a homestyle restaurant with good customer service, and convert the old nightclub into an inclusive events center.

While Thompson historically has built homes that he sold to others, he said he plans to maintain ownership of 900 W. Bow St. and operate the facilities. He said he’s “betting a lot of money” that they will be successful.

“My goal is to have a restaurant where people can get the same kind of cooking that mama used to cook,” Thompson said of the restaurant portion of the project. “We’re going to have breakfast where we have the homemade biscuits, homemade biscuits and gravy with the good ham, thick bacon.”

He said his team also is doing research on how to provide quality meals that include vegetables. He said the nearby lower- and moderate-income neighborhoods tend to have restaurant options limited to fast food, such as fried chicken, hamburgers and Mexican food.

“All of which I love — don’t get me wrong,” Thompson said. “But you know, there’s not an alternative. There’s not enough vegetables. And a lot of times the (low- to moderate-income) communities do not have a lot of choices.”

The event facility will be called the Majesty Events Center, a name Thompson said he picked to communicate the upscale experience he hopes to bring to the area. “The word itself means a lot,” Thompson said. “It says quality. It has all the essence of quality, which is what the building is going to reflect.”

Thompson said he has wanted to build an events center for about eight years. When Kmart left a location on NNW Loop 323 several years ago, he thought about buying and converting that building. Instead, Super 1 Foods moved into the space.

He said the inspiration is his love of listening to live jazz and blues music. But he wants to be able to go see live music without having to travel to Louisiana or Dallas, where he has to stay overnight. And with Tyler becoming a center for education, medical care and other amenities in East Texas, he said it should have a quality events center. 

The event space would have a stage and hold a crowd of 1,600 to 2,000 people. Several VIP rooms would be situated on the ground floor. Another VIP area would be situated in a balcony area that overlooks the stage. There would be changing rooms for performers or wedding parties.

He envisions the space being used to showcase local bands, to bring comedians to Tyler and to put on local plays. He also wants to rent the space out for private events, such as weddings and quinceañeras.

“The beauty about the Majesty Center is that it’s going to be multicultural, so it’s not built for one race, one set of people,” Thompson said. “It’s built for anyone who loves music, loves laughter and loves fun.”

TWITTER and INSTAGRAM: @_erinmansfield