Rose City Blooming

Roses bloom at the new W.T. Brookshire Conference Center in the Tyler Rose Complex. The new state-of-the-art facility, constructed where Harvey Hall once stood, opened its doors with a bang on April 13, 2023. Visitors were led into the joyous opening ceremony with Tyler ISD Caldwell Arts Academy Drumline and the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles lining the way. Texas College’s Choir performed a livelyrendition of “Oh Happy Day” before the current and previous mayors took the stage to celebrate a monumental accomplishment that was 30 years in the making. Once the ceremonial ribbon was cut, hundreds of visitors, neighbors, and residents entered the facility to experience its grandeur. The musical stylings of The University of Texas at Tyler’s Swoop Jazz Band created the perfect ritzy atmosphere as enraptured Tylerites and visitors toured the facility, stopping to take photos and witnessing the future of the City of Tyler, Texas. The awaited night was capped by the Tyler Junior College Drumline leading the way to a spectacular fireworks show.

Tyler's past and present mayors cut the ribbon of the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center

Centrally located in Northeast Texas, Tyler is a hub for the region. It is easily accessible to several major cities like Dallas, Texas, and Shreveport, Louisiana. This makes Tyler the perfect location to host groups for conferences and tours. The Tyler Rose Complex includes the newly built Conference Center, the historic Rose Garden and Mayfair Building, the Tyler Civic Theatre, Tyler ISD Regional Sports Stadium, and the surrounding areas. Altogether, it will boast more than 60,000 square feet of meeting space. The new Complex will position Tyler as a destination experience for visitors and locals alike. The City’s goal is to cultivate a distinct, all-inclusive atmosphere nestled among the natural beauty of Tyler with the best lodging, dining, shopping, and entertainment scene in East Texas.

The Conference Center, built as the centerpiece of the Rose Complex, is sure to offer attendees a conference experience like no other. A three-acre park stands before the building to create an impressive and inviting entrance. The Center’s unique design (inspired by midcentury modern architecture) brings the outdoor beauty of the Tyler Rose Garden indoors, even influencing the names of each room. From small breakout rooms to one big space seating almost 1,800 people or 1,300 banquet-style, the space can literally transform to fit all conference needs. Attractive and efficient meeting spaces will aid Tyler in recruiting larger conventions to the region.

The new facility is named after W.T. Brookshire who established Brookshire Grocery Company nearly a century ago in Downtown Tyler. About 19,000 employees comprise the company’s nearly 200 stores across Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas today. This same contagious Texas spirit of progress, exemplary customer service, and community development is at the heart of the Rose Complex project. This makes the partnership between the City of Tyler and the Brookshire family the perfect pairing. However, it doesn’t end there.

Crowds come to see the grand opening ceremony of the W.T. Brookshire Conference Centre.

What’s next? The Mayfair Reconstruction

Next on the agenda is the revitalization of the historic Mayfair building: a performing arts venue built in 1927 that hosted the likes of Johnny Cash in its heyday. The renovation will preserve all of the historic elements of the landmark (including the original floors, windows, stage, and green room that was once visited by Elvis Presley) while adding structural integrity, new storage space, and ADA-accessible restrooms. The project will add rollup doors on one side of the building that will open to a deck area with additional outdoor sitting, a food truck park, and access to a future hotel.

The multipurpose building will serve as a dance hall, event space,and conference extension with the same state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment as the main conference center. The 5,000-square-foot building will be finished in the last quarter of 2023. A trail and trolley system will be created to connect the entire Complex to our thriving and developing Downtown Tyler. We invite you to join our excitement for all the new Rose Complex brings to Tyler. Imagine spending a Saturday morning strolling through the Rose Garden, followed by a picnic on the Complex lawn, catching an afternoon lecture in the Conference Center, and then walking to your cozy hotel room, all in one place! All of those experiences and more await us in this new season for the beautiful Rose City.