Attendees listen to officials at the demolition ceremony for Harvey Convention Center in Tyler on Wednesday afternoon. The convention center will be replaced with the Tyler Rose Complex, a $28 million project with meeting space, greenery and several amenities. 

As the first wall of Harvey Convention Center came down Wednesday afternoon, crowds gathered with anticipation to see roughly five years of plans come to fruition to construct a new convention center for the city of Tyler. 

Present and past city of Tyler leaders hosted a ceremony and donned their hard hats to make the first whacks at the longstanding building. A construction vehicle then began taking down the wall. 

The demolition is one of the first steps in constructing the new Tyler Rose Complex, a roughly $28 million project with a master plan that began in 2016. Plans for the complex were unveiled in 2019.

Tyler Mayor Don Warren, standing alongside members of the current Tyler City Council and former Mayors Barbara Bass and Joey Seeber, said the Tyler Rose Complex has spanned five mayors, including Kevin Eltife, Seeber, Bass, Martin Heines and himself.

“I cannot remember the last time we have demolished a building in the city of Tyler, if we ever have, but we’re going to do it today,” Warren said. “We’ve reached an important milestone. After many years of planning and community outreach, we came up with a plan. It’s a plan that I think we’re all going to be very proud of.”

Warren said when the city council voted for the Tyler Rose Complex funds in April, the approval was unanimous, adding that dedication from past mayors made the new convention center possible.

He thanked Fitzpatrick Architects for its work in creating plans for the new complex and showed his appreciation to WRL General Contractors and the city of Tyler staff. 

The new conference center will have over 60,000 square feet of meeting space and be built toward the middle of the complex, south of Harvey Convention Center’s current location.

A 3.3-acre park and event lawn is planned for the complex’s front to serve as an inviting entrance. The complex’s area includes Harvey Convention Center, the Rose Garden Center, East Texas State Fairgrounds, the old Mayfair building and the surrounding areas.

Some of the amenities include a unified campus design, Wi-Fi, electrical and food truck connections at the park, a shaded tree grove park and a porch connection from the new conference center to the Tyler Rose Museum building. There will also be a rose medallion design at the center of the park for events, branding and photos.

“We’ve been intimately involved with picking out colors and picking out samples and actually pouring out a cup of coffee on a piece of carpet to see if it would stain the carpet or not,” Warren said. “I’m so proud of the product (Fitzpatrick Architects) have come up with and I think everybody will be proud of it.

Deputy City Manager Stephanie Franklin said the Tyler Rose Complex is definitely a legacy project and having a large supportive team has been a great benefit. 

She recalled partners, including those from the Texas Rose Festival, East Texas State Fair, Tyler ISD and Tyler Civic Theatre, coming together in 2017 for planning. 

“The plan was to enhance the crown jewel that we have here. Our number one tourist attraction — we wanted to give it a facelift,” Franklin said. “The first thing you want to visit in Tyler is the Rose Garden, and for us, it was about creating an area that represented our brand and our culture and our history and uniquely the rose. That’s what this area represents to Tyler.”

She noted the project has pushed onward despite some setbacks like the global pandemic and financial shortfalls. 

The complex is expected to be completed for the Texas Rose Festival season in October 2022. However, Franklin said there could be building material challenges that cause some delay.  

Council members and mayors also received commemorative bricks as mementos on Wednesday. 

The project will be funded through hotel occupancy tax funds, bonds, cash payments, private donations and the Half-Cent Sales Tax funds, according to the city of Tyler.