2022 marked the 150th anniversary of Kilgore’s founding and the past year proved to be as momentous and memorable
City of Kilgore
The anniversary year got off to a celebratory start as Kilgore City Council approved a new logo for the city’s sesquicentennial at a January meeting. Kilgore was founded in 1872. The entire year was marked by celebrations of the historic anniversary right through December, when a historical documentary about the city’s history premiered.
Major infrastructure projects were a key feature of 2022 in Kilgore. A $1.5 million project to reconstruct and repair Commerce Street progressed all year and council voted to approve moving the project to the next phase at their final meeting of 2022. At the same time, a two-year project with the same goals on Main Street continued all year; both projects are slated to wrap up in 2023.
City council also approved the hiring of a contractor to conduct a structural analysis of the historic Crim Theater downtown and feasibility/conceptual design for a 600-700 person fixed seating cultural arts facility. Additionally, early in the year, painters began a refresh — clean, caulk, paint — of the theater’s façade on Tuesday. A roofing crew also re-roofed the awning and repaired its underside.
In April, local realtor Jan Wylie was named First Lady of Kilgore at a ceremony hosted by the Beta Sigma Phi sorority at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Wylie is the 75th woman named First Lady since the award was first presented in 1948 to Olga Lapin.
“I’m honored, I’m humbled and I’m thrilled to be the First Lady this year,” Wylie said after being presented the award and given the First Lady ribbon.
Downtown wasn’t the only area of Kilgore to get a makeover in 2022. In April, workers erected two shade structures inside Kilgore Skate Park. A 35-foot by 20-foot shade cover was placed over the half-pipe at the park and another 50-foot by 20-foot shade cover was placed over some of the other skating structures. The project also included the construction of a skating structure called a grind box, also known as a “hubba,” which allows skaters to jump up, slide down a portion of the box on their boards and then jump back to the ground.
The majority of the project was being paid for by a $50,000 anonymous donation received by the city last year.
City events, including the annual Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza, downtown Trick-Or-Treat and Derrick Lighting brought thousands of attendees to the City of Stars, with sesquicentennial decorations appearing at each event.
Schools
One of the most exciting events of 2022 came in December at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Kilgore High School building attended by dozens of students, staff and locals.
The ceremony marked the beginning of construction on the project, intended to replace the 90-year-old original KHS building with a new, modern campus. A great deal of work has happened between voter approval of a $113 million bond package last fall, including hiring contractors, finalizing designs and updating other district buildings.
In March, KISD school board trustees voted to approve a schematic design for renovations at R.E. St. John football stadium.
The plan called for the installation of new architectural fencing and an entryway, new concession stands, ticket booths and new restroom facilities, a new playing surface on the football field and other upgrades. Much of the work was completed over the rest of the year.
In May, Texas Workforce Commission awarded two Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) grants in the East Texas area to support career training, one of which was awarded to Kilgore College.
KC was awarded $279,296 to purchase safety equipment in the form of firefighting turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus systems. The equipment will help the college to initially provide 130 students with a real-world fire scenario training in the safest possible environment. The equipment funded through these grants will be used to train more students in the future.
Business
2022 was a good year for the Kilgore business community, for both small and large businesses.
In April, the Kilgore Farmers Market opened for the first time and gave shoppers access to locally-grown produce, handmade goods and homemade eats on Saturdays throughout the year. Krystle Perry led the effort to create the market using her experience as a vendor at an Iron Farms market. The market was well-attended and proved to be very popular.
The same month, Wagner Tuning officially opened for business in Synergy Park. CEO Carsten Wagner and his wife Manuela, surrounded by Kilgore business owners, Chamber of Commerce members, elected officials, first responders and more, cut the ribbon in front of the facility at 4017 Enterprise St. The custom auto parts manufacturer is based in Germany and first began work on the site at Synergy Park in 2019 but their opening was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May, years of big dreams and hard work were realized at a groundbreaking for the for the state-of-the-art Roy H. Laird Regional Medical Health Sciences Education Center at the planned site of the new facility, 1612 S. Henderson Blvd.
“What an honor and privilege it is for me to share this groundbreaking, in what is arguably the grandest, most visionary project in 150 years of Kilgore,” said Kilgore Mayor Ronnie Spradlin at the event.
The project includes new teaching and lab space for Kilgore College, as well as a potential expansion of Christus Good Shepherd’s footprint near the existing Emergency Center.
Crime
Local law enforcement made several arrests this year in major cases in and around Kilgore.
In July, five people were arrested after the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office assisted by Kilgore Police Department executed a search warrant at a Kilgore home and found “a reported stolen vehicle out of Kilgore, suspected methamphetamine, suspected marijuana, suspected drug paraphernalia, and a firearm.” The incident launched an investigation expected to lead to further arrests.
In December, a Huntsville, Alabama man was accused of human smuggling and arrested on an INS detainer after Kilgore police say they uncovered evidence of human trafficking while responding to a crash on Interstate 20.
Adan Torres-Ramirez, 30, has been charged with six counts of smuggling of persons, KPD said. He was being held in the Gregg County Jail, with bonds set at $600,000.
“While investigating the crash it became apparent the driver of this vehicle was transporting his six passengers to Florida for work. All of the passengers had been in the United States for only a few months and none of them knew the driver,” KPD’s report states.
Upon uncovering these details, KPD contacted Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as the KPD Criminal Investigation Unit. KPD detectives then conducted interviews with the passengers. All of them provided detailed statements as to how they came to be in the United States, how long they had been here, how much the driver and his boss were charging them for locating work, traveling and lodging.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was notified of the incident. The passengers were provided food and adequate lodging, KPD said.
Other News
In January, the sweet sound of music returned to a historic pipe organ in Kilgore.
In 2021, the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 organ at First Presbyterian Church, which is the flagship organ of the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, was removed for long overdue restoration and re-leathering work, with the plan that the organ would be returned in early summer and playable for the festival in November.
Then, in the middle of February, a record-breaking winter storm smashed into the southern U.S., dumping inches of snow and ice across Texas. As the clean-up work progressed, it was discovered the storm had caused extensive damage to the organ, in addition to damage sustained over many decades of continuous use.
By February 2022, the organ had been fully repaired and the church held a special rededication ceremony to celebrate.
The annual Special Abilities Family Fun Event (SAFFE) Day was held downtown by the Kilgore Fire Department in September. Hundreds attended, excited for the event’s return after two consecutive years of cancellation due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic.