Cities Civil and Municipal July 2023 Public Sector

Greenville, Texas

August 2, 2023

Greenville, Texas

Gateway to Dallas

Growing community thriving amidst a building boom

By THOMAS LARK

Associate Editor

GREENVILLE, TEXAS––It’s a growing city on the move, and it has much to offer.

It’s Greenville, Texas, and it’s located 35 miles northeast of the Big D. That proximity to Dallas has been a longtime economic boon for Greenville, as we learned when we recently spoke with its mayor, Jerry Ransom; city manager Summer Spurlock; Shelley Corrales, president and chief executive officer of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce; Micah McBay, the City’s venue and tourism manager; Bridget Saxton, the City’s engagement co-ordinator; and Gregory Sims, president of Greenville Economic Development.

As you might expect, as it is essentially a suburb of the ninth-largest city in the country, Greenville is growing at an exponential rate. Ransom cited the latest stats from the United States Census Bureau and the Texas Demographic Center. The mayor added that Greenville’s burgeoning population is now somewhere between 30,000 and 31,000 residents. And he revealed that there are more than 6,700 platted lots within the city limits, and more homes are under construction.

“For cities our size, we’re one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas,” said Ransom, adding that more businesses and apartment complexes are also headed Greenville’s way. “We could easily be over 40,000 by the end of the decade.”

Citing Corrales’s work, Ransom revealed that the chamber of commerce grew by some 17 percent over the past year––a thing truly indicative of positive future growth.

“Yes, we did,” said Corrales, “just because we have a lot of great, new businesses that are coming into town. We have a great social-media following, and so there’s a lot of people just wanting to join the chamber. We do a lot of events in the city, so we’re event-driven, and they see that a lot: the pictures and the people participating.”

Corrales and Ransom both shared much enthusiasm over Greenville’s many new neighborhoods now under construction. And Spurlock revealed that five new subdivisions––each featuring 150 to 200 homes––have begun construction within the last two years.

“They’re coming up all over town,” she said, “north, south, east, west––wherever there’s green space. And that’s just the subdivisions.”

Spurlock also spoke of Greenville’s growing numbers for in-fill housing construction. That’s when a new home is added to a pre-existing neighborhood. Spurlock cited “Project Restore,” a local effort that has resulted in new homes being built upon empty lots the City formerly mowed and maintained. New homes and new families mean new life for Greenville, and that’s always a good thing.

“We’re seeing quite a bit of residential growth,” Spurlock added.

Citywide, said Sims, more than 6,000 homes are in the process of being built.

“Either in planning review or actually under construction,” he added, continuing that 1,339 homes have been built in just the past year alone.

Greenville, Texas

City services

Greenville is the kind of community that cares about its citizens, and McBay said there’s a lot to both serve and entertain them.

“Our parks and rec department offers a substantial number of events every year,” he said, “along with our public library and our City-owned auditorium. We have a 1,400-seat auditorium that I actually run for the City.”

That would be the Greenville Municipal Auditorium (or GMA). For the past 84 years, the auditorium has entertained folks of all ages, with performances by USO travelling shows during the World War II era and such legends as jazz great Duke Ellington; the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley; classical pianist Van Cliburn; and country music giants Loretta Lynn and Charlie Pride. Today, the GMA is home to Greenville Theatre Works and the Greenville Family Theatre.

And according to Theodore Harvey, a noted composer and the associate principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the DSO performs at the auditorium thrice annually. Harvey recently talked about the GMA’s newly renovated green room.

“The large green room, where musicians prepare for concerts and pack up afterwards, which used to look rather dreary, was recently re-done in bright colors––including, of course, green,” he said, “with the additions of pictures of musicians and musical art and a new marble counter, with facilities for coffee and soda for performers.”

And there’s the Festival of the Arts, held every May, as McBay informed. The Bottle Rocket Bash is held every July 4. The Lee Street Jamboree is held in historic downtown Greenville every September. Plus, there are the Cotton Patch Bicycle Race and the annual Hunt County Fair. And there are parades for Veterans Day and Christmas. As well, downtown merchants have popular “shop and sip” events that appeal both economically and oenologically.

A place in the sun for the city with a heart

There’s a total solar eclipse coming just after noon on April 8 of next year, as McBay revealed, and it will cross the United States from Texas to Maine. According to American Paper Optics, Texas is a prime spot for viewing the eclipse. To be precise, nearby Plano, Texas––just 50 minutes from Greenville––will be one of the best sites in the whole country from which to see the eclipse.

“We expect to see a large number of people arriving in the city to see this,” said McBay. “We’ll actually have one of the longest windows in the entire nation: four minutes and 10 seconds or so.”

And he noted that the Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum draws some 25,000 people a year to Greenville. Murphy, one of the most highly decorated combat soldiers in American military history and a famed hero of World War II, was born in Kingston, also in Hunt County and not far from Greenville. The museum also tells the story of Texas agriculture history and the long generations when cotton was king in the Lone Star State.

Airports are a key component of any city’s economic toolbox, and in Greenville, there’s the Greenville Municipal Airport: Majors Field. It provides a safe and efficient aviation facility for Greenville and the surrounding region. According to the City of Greenville, it’s situated just a short distance from I-30 and 45 miles northeast of Dallas in a prime location for corporate, medical and general aviation businesses and pilots. The runway is more than 8,000 feet long, and Spurlock said it can accommodate some of the largest aircraft in the market.

“But not a B-52!” she quipped with a laugh.

Relatedly, on the nearby south side of the airport, defense contractor L3 Harris employs some 6,500 people on what was once a U.S. Army base. And of course quick access to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport––one of the biggest and busiest in the country, as McBay noted––is certainly economically advantageous.

Greenville’s economic future certainly appears to be a bright one. Amongst other things on the horizon is a new EOC or emergency operating center that is now being built. It will include local fire administration and a fire-training facility. The project is a partnership with Paris Junior College. One of PJC’s three campuses is located in Greenville. And another project is a planned multi-use recreational facility.

And Sims noted Greenville’s plum location at the confluence of multiple major highways. This, he said, places the city in a prime spot for distribution and industrial properties, and it’s ideal for business relocation.

As Greenville grows, Ransom said he wants to see it nevertheless maintain its small-town feel. McBay shared that sentiment.

“It’s not blowing smoke,” he said. “I know that other places may say that. But if you come down here, and you go out into the community, this is what you’re going to see. You’re going to see friendly people, who will talk with you.”

Saxton agreed, citing tourism.

“I want people to leave here and feel like our city has people with big hearts,” she said.

McBay mentioned the friendliness of strangers in grocery stores.

“And they don’t know me,” he added. “But they’ll say, ‘Hey, how’re you doing today?’ And we’ll chat about whatever is going on.”

On that cheery note, McBay said the City is working on a new branding campaign for tourism: “Greenville––A City with a Heart.”

Corrales also extolled the good folks of Greenville.

“The people,” she revealed, “are the reason I came back.”