Howdy!
I recently got to tour the building that is being renovated for the Innovation Pipeline. Although it’s not yet completed, being able to walk through the space and envision how it will be turned into a makerspace and collaborative meeting area was pretty great.
There is an organization here called Historic Tyler. They’re dedicated to preserving Tyler’s architectural and historical resources. Pretty cool group. They pledged a great donation to restore the historic façade of the IP building and aide the overall renovation of the entire building!
There is also an initiative to revitalize and restore parts of downtown Tyler in order to preserve its historicity and also to attract more community members towards the downtown area. So, part of the IP building will be awesome historical architecture. The other part of the IP building will be new, fresh, and clean – Computers, flat screens, and laminate white board walls. Basically, this space will be part old school, part modern. It’ll be kinda quirky – just like entrepreneurs!
I’ve been able to be part of helping the renovation move forward. It’s been a pretty insightful look into how a restoration project moves through municipal government. It can be tricky to keep the big picture and little details in perspective. From architectural plans, to commercial code considerations, to city council approval, and everything in-between, this is definitely not a small task. The IP building should be complete, however, by December! What an awesome Christmas present it would be to attend ribbon cutting ceremony for this great project.
That’s all for now,
Megan