Earl Campbell Parkway opens in Tyler

August 31st, 2012

Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell met with city officials Thursday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brand new street named after Campbell.

Earl Campbell Parkway cost nearly $16.6 million to build and is a four-lane road connecting highway 155 to Loop 323 West. It also comes with a pair of bike lanes, medians and sidewalks. On top of that, it also comes with about 86,000 square miles of pavement and nine miles of curbs.

Campbell, also known as the “The Tyler Rose,” said he was honored by the gesture of having a street named after him.

“Nothing I accomplished in life is because of me,” Campbell said. “It’s because of we. I know a lot of people take credit Campbell, but there’s only one man who can take all the credit, that’s the Lord God Almighty.

Mayor Barbara Bass was at the scene and told the crowd she’s proud to be able to have a street named after the local legend.

“Earl Campbell exemplifies the best of who we are,” she said. “He puts God first. We have this parkway name in honor of a special person, born and raised in Tyler, Texas.”

Campbell played for John Tyler High School before attending University of Texas where he played for the Longhorns won the Heisman Trophy in 1977.

In 1978, he was drafted by the Houston Oilers, the team he played for the majority of his career. He spent two seasons playing for the New Orleans Saints and retired from football in 1986. He finished his career with 9,407 rushing yards.

Tags: Barbara Bass, Bike Lanes, Earl Campbell, Football Hall Of Fame, Hall Of Fame, Heisman Trophy, Houston Oilers, John Tyler, John Tyler High School, Lord God Almighty, Medians, New Orleans Saints, Nine Miles, Pro Football Hall, Pro Football Hall Of Fame, Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Rushing Yards, Special Person, Tyler High School, Tyler Rose
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The Tyler Marathon, Bringing a Little Excercise to East Texas

January 27th, 2010

The City of Tyler Texas welcomes you to the first annual Tyler Rose marathon, half marathon and 5k. With the idea that Tyler is kind of the picturesque garden destination in Texas with all of the azaleas, trails, and roses it was picked as a new marathon event. The marathon will wind through streets, sidewalks, wooded areas, and finish up in the azalea trail. This is really needed considering how bad the Azalea trail has become over the years. At one point back in the 80’s you would have athletes flying in from Africa to run the Azalea Trail but now all Tyler gets is a unique pack of teenagers wearing the same shirt from a ministry or two in town. Hey a lot of people running the Azalea Trail from the same organization is great but without those great groups like Teen Mania running the 10 and 5k we would only have a handful of people left running it.

So this marathon event represents a revitalization in the Tyler Texas running community and will hopefully create something like we used to have back in the 80’s with the Azalea trail. Tyler really needs another serious racing event
and I hope this one takes off and becomes popular. In order for the Tyler marathon to become popular we need to get the word out so be sure to send out tweets and facebook messages to your friends and let them know about www.tylermarathon.com. They can read more about the event in order to plan for it this October. It is still a long ways off to give you plenty of time to train for it.

Many of the details regarding the marathon are still in development stages but it is going to happen so start preparing now. Marathons are not something that can be done without training first. I attempted to run a marathon once at the White Rock Marathon in Dallas and got to about mile 18 when I had to stop because of a lack of preparation and I had just past the donut whole and fresh milk booth.

The website says the event is being produced by Mellew Productions. I have never heard of this company but I am glad they are heading this up. After reviewing their website I found out they specialize in creating fun and festive events in cities across the US.

The Tyler marathon course has not been publicized at this time as the production company awaits approval from the city of Tyler.

Mellew will plan the whole event so that food, prizes, T-shirts, surroundings, the running course, volunteers, and staff are all coordinated to make it as fun and exciting as a marathon can be while making a profit. Isn’t lack of profit why Tyler’s Azalea trail became a miserable failure over the years? Maybe this is our town’s needed turnaround for exciting running events once again. Mellew is based out of Richardson Texas and some of their services are listed below.

Services include:

New Run/Walk Events:

· Event creation and design with event day management.
· Designing effective sponsorship proposals
· Assistance in finding host site for the event
· Create businesslike structure to insure profitability
· Produce brochure, web site, and T-shirt design
· Direct all promotional activities
· Provide all assistance and advice to create a fun and exciting event.

Tags: Azalea Trail, Azaleas, City Of Tyler, City Of Tyler Texas, East Texas, Excercise, Fresh Milk, Half Marathon, Handful, Marathons, People Running, Picturesque Garden, Revitalization, Roses, Running Community, Sidewalks, Teen Mania, Tyler Marathon, Tyler Rose, White Rock Marathon, Wooded Areas
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Movies in Tyler Texas

December 20th, 2009

For showtimes at all the movie theaters in Tyler we recommend using an online service like Flixter, Fandango, or RottenTomatoes

Because Tyler, TX is a mid-sized city that is overshadowed by titans like Dallas and Fort Worth, people often say there is nothing to do in the city. There are no pro sports teams, and major concerts with big name artists are rare. Maybe this is true to a degree but virtually ever resident of Tyler Texas love movies and restaurants. There are hundreds of restaurants in the city, but there are three movie theaters: The Hollywood Rose, Carmike 14, and Times Square Cinema. Below is a brief description of each of these.

Movie Theaters in Tyler

Hollywood Rose Cinema

Cost for a regular admission ticket: $7.75

This west Tyler theater was built in the 1990’s, and remains a popular choice for many young people in the city. However, “The Tyler Rose” is generally considered the worst theater in Tyler. The staff members appear to hate their jobs, and the floor is perpetually sticky. The movie viewing, too, is subpar. Expect problems with the projector and sound, and maybe even the temperature. But the biggest problem with The Tyler Rose is the chaotic atmosphere. The theater is ground zero for high school loiterers who have nothing better to do than attract attention to themselves. Fights are routine, and there are often policemen roaming the premises. For other high schoolers, this might be an attractive atmosphere. But not for parents who want to send their kid to a movie, and not for adults who just want to watch a film in peace.[ad#large-blog-block]

Carmike 14 in Tyler

Cost for a regular admission ticket: $8.25

Carmike 14 is Tyler’s largest and most modern theater. It is located close to a hoard of shopping outlets on South Broadway such as Kohls, Target, Walmart Super Center, and Gander Mountain. Carmike 14 is a fine theater, offering digital projection and 3-D movies (when they are available.) The staff are generally cheerful and competent. The stadium seating, too, is great. I have few qualms with Carmike 14, other than the slightly higher prices and the problem of crowds. But at least the crowds are there because it’s a good theater, unlike The Tyler Rose.

Times Square Cinema

Cost for a regular admission ticket: $7.50

Long before The Tyler Rose or Carmike 14 were ever built, movies in Tyler Texas were being shown 7 days a week at a little theater in Times Square on South Broadway. The theater has just six screens, and a small staff. It has an entirely different feel than most modern theaters. It’s a much more down to earth atmosphere because it is a family owned and operated business. When you go there, you can expect digital projection, 3-D viewing, and a clean atmosphere. The screens are smaller than the ones at the other theaters, but the experience is better overall. The best part? The high school kids prefer to hang out at the bigger places. Times Square patrons are their to watch movies, not to attract (or repulse) potential mates.

Video Rentals in Tyler

If you prefer to rent movies in Tyler Texas, there are ~~still two Blockbuster video stores~~, one on 5th and Beckham, and one on Troupe in the Green Acres Shopping Center. ~~Hollywood Video is still renting to customers~~ on South Broadway. Ten years ago, this city was crawling with video stores! But the advent of Netflix and RedBox movie kiosks have made those places irrelevant. If you want to rent a movie in Tyler, it’s easier and cheaper to drop into WalMart or MacDonalds. Update: Netflix and Redbox have destroyed all rental movie stores. Sorry but you will have to mail order your video rentals, do pay per view, or use the redbox and blockbuster video vending machines around town.

Tags: Admission Ticket, Attractive Atmosphere, Carmike, carmike 14 in tyler, Digital Projection, Fandango, Gander Mountain, High Schoolers, Hoard, hollywood theaters tyler, Kohls, Movie Theaters, movies in tyler texas, Pro Sports Teams, Qualms, Rottentomatoes, Shopping Outlets, South Broadway, Stadium Seating, target, theaters in tyler texas, times square cinema in tyler, Tyler Rose, Tyler TX, videos in tyler, Walmart, West Tyler
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Hollywood Theater: The Tyler Rose

November 11th, 2009

Tyler Rose Theater

Growing up on Tyler’s west side, I remember the excitement that the new 10 Screen Tyler Rose theater opened in the 90’s. It was the first major mega theater complex in the city, topping theaters with 4 to 6 screens. It felt like a grown up Dallas area Cinemaplex. There was an arcade upstairs, neon lights, and stadium style seating.

Ten years later, the Tyler Rose has lost its bloom. Maybe this is due in part to our own growing, unrealistic expectations, or the power of comparison with Theaters in South Tyler, which are far superior. Or maybe it’s just shoddy business practice.

Whatever the reason, the Tyler Rose rarely satisfies customers. If you are looking to go see a movie at this Tyler theater, you can expect the following:

Police Officers. Yep, at this movie theater, there’s alot of action, and not just onscreen! Half the people there are loiterers, not paying customers. It can be an unnerving atmosphere. When there aren’t actual fights going on, you can bet there will be lots of teenagers being punks. Put it this way: I would never allow my daughters or my wife to go to this theater by themselves.
Poor customer service. The theater workers are not happy to be there, and they are not afraid to prove it to you.
A sticky floor. Yes, there were probably kids sitting in that same seat an hour ago, and yes, they spilled their drink and their popcorn. But on the bright side, you can help yourself to a handful, free of charge!
A mediocre viewing experience. Don’t expect digital projection. Black splotches will abound.
Audio / Visual problems. The sound is often too loud or too quiet. And at worst, the film is not set properly. Once, I thought I was watching an overly-artsy film where the director intentionally kept all the boom microphones in each shot. I thought, “this is infuriating!” Come to find out, the problem was with the projector. The movie staff is supposed to set the film in the projector to cut it off at at a certain aspect ratio. The Tyler Rose staff simply had apparently forgotten to do this. But isn’t that kind of important?
Arctic temperatures. Last time my wife and I went to a November movie–the same night with the “boom mic” movie–we could see our breath. It’s a good thing it was a good movie.

On the bright side, a ticket to the Hollywood Rose is only $7.50, fifty cents cheaper than a ticket to Carmike 14. But if a couple of quarters is the issue, you could always go to the Times Square Cinema, which is much nicer and only costs $7.50.

Overall, the managers at the Tyler Rose have run a pretty loose ship, and it shows. That’s why most Tylerites, even those on the west side of the city, now prefer to watch movies at one of the theaters on South Broadway instead. You should, too.

Tags: Bloom, Boom Microphones, Business Practice, Dallas Area, Digital Projection, Film Projector, Handful, Hollywood Theater, Movie Theater, movies in tyler, Neon Lights, Police Officers, Poor Customer Service, Popcorn, Punks, Splotches, Sticky Floor, the hollywood rose theater, the tyler rose, Theaters, Tyler Rose, Unrealistic Expectations, West Side
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