TAYLOR, Texas — In Williamson County, the city of Taylor will be home to the Samsung semiconductor plant. But that’s not the only development going on in the city as officials work on a downtown master plan.
The once small town is seeing major growth with the 6-million-square-foot Samsung plant coming to town, southwest of Taylor’s downtown area. The plant is expected to bring more than 2,000 jobs to the area.
Jan Harris is the Historic Preservation Officer for Taylor and said the city has been working on the plan for years.
“Respond to the growth that is coming so we can welcome the growth while protecting our historic infrastructure,” Harris said. “New construction that will help increase the economic activity in downtown.”
The city is finalizing those plans, and Harris said none of these old buildings are going anywhere. However, the city plans to expand Taylor’s downtown by using nearby empty lots.
According to Harris, that includes everything from new shops and restaurants to housing. Taylor also plans to touch up the older buildings downtown.
“Some of the buildings that are multi-storied to be renovated for upper floor housing is going to help all the businesses,” Harris said.
Dora Gonzales’ family owns one of the oldest businesses in the heart of downtown, Taylor Sporting Goods. She said she loves being downtown and believes the changes will help her business.
“It’s awesome because we get a lot of people going by to see the store,” Gonzales said. “We need growth. We have old buildings that would look really nice if organizations would go in.”
The master plan also calls for sidewalk improvements and a new pedestrian bridge. According to Harris, the city hopes it will have the master plan wrapped up by April. Then it will be sent to the city council for approval.
Boomtown is KVUE’s series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.