Palestine is a beautiful city with a remarkable history. The central areas of the city (what I think of as the Downtown, Old Town and the Courthouse Square areas) have what my mother calls "good bones". In other words, the surface needs some care and attention but what is underneath is still good – and would be great with some renovation / rejuvenation.
I certainly remember some great times in the downtown areas of Palestine when I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, including going through Davenport's to get some candy before going out the back door to the Texas Theatre to watch a movie. (I ate so much candy corn one day (a whole quarter's worth) that I did not like candy corn for the next 30 years!)
The downtown area had a range of shops, jewelry stores, drug stores with soda fountains, etc. that made it a great place to go visit with friends and pick up whatever you needed that particular day.
A number of entities within the city are teaming up to encourage further renovation / rejuvenation – to build on the good start that has been made by some of the pioneers. The goal is to encourage the building-up of the Palestine City Centre area, and let it reach its full potential as an enjoyable, beneficial part of the community.
This blog has been created to let everyone who is interested enough to look it up(congratulations – you are one of those people!) know what is going on – AND HAVE SOME INPUT as to what happens next.
This is really a team effort – the City of Palestine, the PEDC as the development arm of the City, the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Merchants Association, interested individuals, and … wow, I hope I did not miss anyone! If I did just let me know and I will update the list!
If you would like to be advised of upcoming meetings / events, please email me and I will add you to the notification email list.
Thank you again for your interest, and we all look forward to working together with you to build a better community!
Timothy
