Keep the Rosedale renaissance going.
That’s the goal of the Poly Main Street program under the leadership of Texas Wesleyan University officials. The initiative is planned as a decades-long project to improve the area around the campus.
On Thursday, two Fort Worth City Council members unveiled a new logo for the eastside community program — a brand that incorporates iconic buildings in the neighborhood. The circular logo — with images of the shuttered Poly Theatre, Texas Wesleyan’s Canafax Clock Tower and Polytechnic High School — includes the motto, “Preserving the Past, Building our Future.”
The Main Street program is focusing on two transportation and commercial corridors — East Rosedale Street and Vaughn Boulevard. Both streets are targeted for economic growth and beautification efforts by leasing out retail storefronts and making more public improvements near Texas Wesleyan, officials said. Texas Wesleyan students are involved in planning and meeting with residents.
Dwala Chandler, Texas Wesleyan’s director for service learning and leader of the Main Street effort, said residents, business owners and other stakeholders have supported redevelopment efforts in Polytechnic Heights for many years.
“Your investment in this neighborhood is what makes this work possible,” she said.
Renderings shown at a reception “represent possibilities, so they’re not promises of what will happen tomorrow,” Chandler said.
“Instead, they help us visualize what could be achieved through continued partnership and investment. Imagine attractive streetscapes, improved landscaping, decorative lighting, wayfinding signs, public gathering spaces, public art, improved sidewalks, places where families gather, where people stop for coffee, where businesses flourish and where students and residents interact.
Launched in 2022, the initial three-year city pilot program provided Polytechnic Heights and the Northside $120,000 for administrative and operational funding in addition to a $150,000 in grant funding to reenergize efforts from the initial program.
Last summer, the pilot was extended two more years. The Poly program received $60,000 for administrative costs since the district’s prior managers didn’t spend the initial $150,000.
Emily Messer, Texas Wesleyan president, said the university is blessed to work with the city to improve the area.
“We are the gem of east Fort Worth. We have great pride in the service to our community,” she said.
Texas Wesleyan University stands at the end of Vaughn Boulevard on June 26, 2025, in Fort Worth. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)
Council members Chris Nettles and Jeanette Martinez, both on the Texas Wesleyan board of trustees, showed off the new logo at the campus reception.
“For some it may not be a big deal, but to celebrate the logo is really important,” said Nettles, whose council district includes the Texas Wesleyan campus. “I think it’s so important and beneficial for us to celebrate the logo. The logo is an example of where we’re going, it’s where we’ve been. It’s an example of how important this (is) to the city of Fort Worth.”
Nettles said he appreciated the university for taking over the stalled Poly Main Street program, previously operated by Southeast Fort Worth Inc.
Vaughn Boulevard, from East Rosedale to MLK Highway, is a dividing line between Nettles’ and Martinez’s council districts.
“We share Poly Main Street,” Nettles said. “That effort makes it even better because you have two people on council fighting for dollars to make sure this investment continues.”
Martinez, a 2012 Texas Wesleyan graduate, said the Main Street program will benefit the community, and stakeholders will benefit from renewed improvement efforts.
“I know it’s just a logo, but it’s really exciting,” she said.
Dwala Chandler, Texas Wesleyan University’s director for service learning, talks about the Poly Main Street program she is directing as TWU President Emily Messer looks on. (Eric E. Garcia | Fort Worth Report)
Chandler said the Main Street program is “the beginning of a transformational journey for Polytechnic Heights.”
The neighborhood, about 3 miles from downtown, is a majority-Hispanic area that shares history with the adjacent, predominantly Black Stop Six neighborhood. Some historic storefronts remain shuttered after years of disinvestment.
“When we talk about Poly Main Street, we’re talking about preserving the history that makes this neighborhood so special while creating new opportunities that will benefit future generations,” Chandler said. “The logo you see today is simply the beginning. It represents the work that has already begun and the exciting future we are building together.”
Chandler said the program benefits from Texas Wesleyan students who receive hands-on experience through a community-based college course and related nonprofit organization.
The program is based on four pillars — organization, promotion, design and economic vitality — that help address neighborhood challenges, Chandler said.
“We chose to focus on the opportunities,” she said.
Renderings show possible Main Street improvements that could be made to Vaughn Boulevard near Texas Wesleyan University. (Eric E. Garcia | Fort Worth Report)
The program will be centered on East Rosedale Street between Ayers Avenue and Beach Street and Vaughn Boulevard from East Rosedale to MLK Highway to create a connected community.
“They’re not just roads, they’re opportunities,” Chandler said. “People are always the focus of revitalization.”
Chandler said the program’s participants want ideas that they can use to help plan improvements, referring to renderings shown at the reception as possible projects.
“These images remind us that transformation is possible.”
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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