Let's Talk Luling Episode 2: Derek Hall on Preserving Downtown Luling Through Main Street

This post is adapted from Episode 2 of Let's Talk Luling, a podcast produced by DSE Media for the Luling Economic Development Corporation. Watch the full episode on YouTube.

Derek Hall has been the director of Luling Main Street for 13 years. He grew up here, moved away, saw an ad in a paper, thought it sounded like marketing, applied, and never left. Thirteen years later he's one of the most knowledgeable people in town about what makes downtown Luling tick and how to keep it that way as the city grows.

In Episode 2 of Let's Talk Luling, Luling EDC Executive Director Arias sat down with Derek to talk about what Main Street actually does, how businesses can access free money to improve their buildings, and what's coming for downtown Luling over the next five to ten years.

What is Luling Main Street?

Main Street is economic development by historic preservation. That's Derek's phrase and it captures the mission well. The organization revitalizes the downtown district by preserving its cultural and architectural heritage, funding building improvements, putting on events that drive foot traffic, and maintaining the landscaping, signage, and public spaces that give downtown its character.

Luling is one of about 90 Main Street cities in Texas. Most revolve around a small square. Luling's district is larger than most, running along Davis Street, Pierce Street, Magnolia Street, and down toward the Ice House pottery. As Mayor Watts put it, Luling is the crossroads to everywhere. The downtown district reflects that.

The facade grant program

This is one of the most underutilized resources available to Luling business owners and property owners. Main Street runs three tiers of facade grants funded primarily through Rage & Cinjun proceeds.

The first is a 50% match up to $10,000 for major building projects. That includes roofing, plumbing upgrades, electrical work, facade restoration, basically anything that touches a building. The second is a 50% match up to $5,000 specifically for facade improvements: windows, signage, restoring a brick front, anything on the exterior face of the building. The third is a 70/30 match up to $2,000 for paint only projects. If your building needs a $2,000 paint job, Main Street will cover $1,400 of it.

Over the years Main Street has paid out over $110,000 across 38 or 39 different facade grants. In the last year alone they paid out nearly $25,000. Derek is also working with the city attorney to retool the program to make it more accessible and impactful going forward.

If you own a building in the Main Street district and want to make improvements, go see Derek at the Luling Oil Museum. There's an application process and a board approval, but free architectural renderings from the Texas Main Street program's design staff in Austin are available at no cost to help you visualize what your building could look like.

Rage & Cinjun: the engine that funds it all

The Rage & Cinjun Throwdown is Main Street's annual fundraiser and the event that keeps the facade grant program running. It's always the second Saturday in March and it's unlike anything else in the area.

It's a cookoff with categories for gumbo (with a $1,000 prize for the winner), jambalaya, an open Cajun-inspired category, Bloody Mary, and dessert. The zydeco music in the background gives it a vibe that people describe as time travel. You feel like you're somewhere else entirely.

Beyond the cookoff there are vendors, an arts and crafts fair, food options for non-Cajun eaters, and activities for kids. The board and a volunteer committee start planning months out and Derek gets there at 6:00 in the morning. It used to be 19-hour days. Now it's closer to 16. It's still fun every time.

If you want to volunteer on the day of or join the planning committee, go to lulingmainstreet.com and find the volunteer tab, or just go see Derek at the office.

Other events: wine crawl, cookies and carols, and the Yule Trail

The wine crawl happens the Friday before Mother's Day every year. Main Street purchases the wine, downtown businesses serve it, and foot traffic flows through the whole district. It's a reliable way for merchants to introduce themselves to residents who may have never walked through their doors.

Cookies and Carols happens in December and has become a staple. It used to be Cocoa and Carols until the merchants voted unanimously that cookies were better and there was no going back.

The Yule Trail has grown into a regional attraction. Derek is out there maintaining 160-plus signs lit up throughout the downtown area on winter nights and the people walking around aren't just from Luling. He hears it every year — people from Elgin, Smithville, and beyond making the drive because they heard about it.

What's coming

Derek is direct about a few near-term challenges. The downtown palm trees that have been there since the 1940s are past their lifespan and an arborist has confirmed a couple of them are in poor shape. Something will have to be done before one comes down on a car during an event. New red oaks have already been planted in the 400 block to replace crepe myrtles that were lost.

On the opportunity side, Derek sees the business mix downtown starting to turn. A new restaurant called Wild Hatters is on its way. Nightlife is coming. The new downtown plaza that Main Street and the EDC built together has created a centralized gathering space that Luling never had before. The parks department's Music on Maine event has already taken it over as a weekly live music venue. Derek built it without knowing exactly what it would become. Now he can't imagine what it won't become.

The long-term vision is more of the same, done better. More sidewalks connecting Heritage Circle to the Thump Pavilion and the plaza. Infrastructure improvements. A continued push to keep the downtown district feeling like a place apart from the rest of town, because that sense of place is what draws people here and what keeps them coming back.

Why it all works in Luling

Derek has been to enough Main Street trainings to know that what Luling has is rare. In other cities, the chamber, the EDC, Main Street, and the city are often at war. In Luling they've always worked together. He's never seen anything like it elsewhere and he knows it has to be protected. Every organization has strengths. Pooling them is how progress happens.

As the city grows and new residents arrive, that culture of collaboration is what will determine whether Luling keeps its identity or loses it to generic suburban sprawl. Derek's bet is that Luling keeps it.

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