TYLER, Texas — The City of Tyler announced that the demolition of Harvey Hall will begin on August 2 and will kick off with a public ceremony.
“Right now, the old parking lot is being demoed and the street, rose park, adjacent to the Rosegarden is being demoed,” said Tyler Deputy City Manager Stephanie Frankilin. “So, the first phase is really to get a new parking facility built next to the Rose Garden Center and the Civic Theatre so that way those who are visiting our number one tourist attraction and the civic theater, who has had sold out events, will have a designated area to park throughout the project.”
Franklin added that in November, after demolition is complete, construction of the new building will begin.
“The very last phase will be the Mayfair building rehabilitation and also the 3 1/2-acre park which is on the front of the facility,” said Franklin. “The ideal date for opening is October 2022. With building materials and all of the challenges that you probably been hearing about, that could delay the project. But we’re optimistic, we hope that we can make a big splash with the rose festival in October 2022.”
Franklin says that parking will be a problem throughout the construction over the next year and people are asked to remember to give themselves a little bit of extra time when they’re attending an event in the area.