A renaissance is happening along East Rosedale Street in the Polytechnic neighborhood of southeast Fort Worth.
The Rosedale Renaissance is a $6.5 million project spurred by Texas Wesleyan University as part of its 2020 Vision for campus and for the neighboring community.
"Our number one priority is, of course, our students. Everything we do on campus is focused on them and to be sure they live up to their full potential," said Texas Wesleyan president Fred Slabach. "As a part of that, we want to build a thriving, engaging campus feeling and an environment in the surrounding community that is also feeding into that. The whole Rosedale Renaissance that we are engaged in is really all about the students."
And, people off campus are noticing.
Chef and restaurant owner Ben Merritt picked East Rosdale for his second restaurant. Ben's Triple B opened in April in space right across from campus and owned by the university.
"I stumbled upon the Rosedale Renaissance area and fell in love with it," he said. "As soon as I saw the space, and the building, I was like, 'Oh my God, this is the right spot."
"Since Ben's Triple B opened, we have been inundated from others who want to move into our neighborhood," Slabach said.
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Slabach believes that kind of investment will pay off in more engaged campus.
"It's really all about the students but in order to do that, we need to be a catalyst for economic revitalization for the communiity," he said.
The Rosedale Renaissance falls under the campus enhancement goal of the the university's 2020 Vision. The plan adopted in 2010 also calls for achieving high-quality academic programs, recruiting motivated students who become leaders and establishing the unversity as a leader in higher education.
Yet even with the big goals, Texas Wesleyan wants to stay true to the tradition reflected in its "Smaller. Smarter." marketing strategy. The campaign embraces the university's small campus where 2,600 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate progams.
