Restoration of historical Tyler building where Elvis performed underway | CPT PPP Coverage

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TYLER — Restoration of Tyler’s historical Mayfair Building is set to be completed in October.

The almost 100-year-old building served as a catch-all for concerts, performances, festivals and even wrestling matches. Entertainers who appeared at the Mayfair include Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash.

Tyler’s Rose Complex includes the Mayfair Building and the neighboring W.T. Brookshire Conference Center and Tyler Rose Garden.

“We’ll have two big attractions at the Rose Complex that aren’t just the conference center. It’s also this big historical component,” Deputy City Manager Stephanie Franklin said. “It sets us apart from other attractions.”

Phase 1 of the project began in March and has an estimated completion date of October.

The city of Tyler made the restoration possible in partnership with the Friends of the Mayfair, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the building’s preservation.

The building can seat 500 dinner-style with a sizable dance floor, or auditorium seats up to 800.

When the restoration is complete, the Mayfair will be available for public and private events. The hall will also be used as a breakout room for the conference center.

In June 2022, the Tyler City Council approved $1.52 million to complete rehabilitation and restore the Mayfair. Hotel Occupancy Tax Funds as well as grants and donations funded the additional amount.

“This project is funded through tourism dollars. Those people that come and stay in our community, they’re charged a heads and beds tax, and that money is what we used on the conference center and this facility,” Franklin said.

Original features such as the Mayfair’s oak floors will be restored as much as possible.

“In the ’50s, when you came for a dance, it’s going to be like you opened the door and walked back into the dance hall,” Franklin said. “The embellishments that you had, those art deco embellishments that went up the sides, all of that will be put back.”

Included in the restoration is the addition of ADA-compliant restrooms and a storage area. Future work will include demolition of an old building next to the Mayfair that will be replaced with a covered pavilion/deck and food truck area straddling the old armory.

The original stage is being restored, and the dressing room will be preserved to serve as a small museum telling the history of the building. It will include original photographs of Elvis in that same room, which were discovered during the restoration process.

A consultant is assisting the city with an application to have the Mayfair Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Tyler Rose Garden already is on the registry.

“You come here for a conference, but you get to see a garden on the National Register of Historic Places,” Franklin said. “Now you’ll get to see a dance hall that is on the National Register.”