A rendering shows the upcoming Tyler Rose Complex development, which will add a new conference center to replace Harvey Convention Center, a park, trees and other amenities. The project is expected to be completed October 2022.

Due to inclement weather, the demolition of the Harvey Convention Center has been postponed to later this week.

The city of Tyler, including Mayor Don Warren as well as past and present city leadership, will have a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The event was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday.

This is one of the first steps in constructing the new Tyler Rose Complex, a roughly $28 million project that has been in the planning stages for five years. The master plan first began in 2016 and the plans for the complex were unveiled in 2019.

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. Through the renovation, the Tyler Civic Theatre Center and Rose Museum will have designated parking spots, according to the design plans.

The complex is expected to be completed for the Texas Rose Festival season in October 2022.

On Wednesday, the city council and mayors past and present will take the first swing at demoing Harvey Convention Center. After the ceremony, attendees can watch the demolition from a safe distance on the bleachers that will be set up.

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.