Drive along South Broadway near Toll 49 this fall and you'll pass a fenced lot that used to be a small playground inside the Village at Cumberland Park. A bulldozer and an excavator sit behind orange construction fencing. A faded banner on the chain-link still promises a Dave & Buster's is coming. The banner echoed a plan first outlined in permit filings in December 2024.
For Oak Creek residents who use this stretch of Broadway for dinner, a movie, or a Saturday walk through Bass Pro Shops, the story includes both the Dave & Buster's project and the other changes along the corridor.
More Than a Year Between the Permit and the Bulldozer
The paper trail on this project is unusually well documented, which makes it possible to compare the original schedule with later developments.
- December 2024: A filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation showed plans for a roughly 23,000-square-foot Dave & Buster's on South Broadway, with an estimated construction cost near $4.5 million. The filing penciled in work starting by the end of March 2025, with a target opening in January 2026.
- Sometime in 2025: Signage appeared at the site announcing construction was "coming soon," though local news coverage at the time noted that no firm groundbreaking date had been disclosed.
- December 2025: The shopping center's existing children's playground on that same lot was closed, with vinyl banners citing the future Dave & Buster's construction. That same month, reporters confirmed the location would mark the first Dave & Buster's in East Texas. The January 2026 opening target was still ahead, and no revised opening date had been announced.
- May 2026: Heavy equipment finally showed up on the lot. Bulldozers, an excavator, and portable toilets appeared, along with orange fencing, more than a year after the permit's own paperwork said dirt would start moving.
As of this writing, no opening date has surfaced since. The original January 2026 opening target had passed, and the lot was still being cleared in May 2026.
What Filled In While the Lot Sat Empty
Other parts of the Village at Cumberland Park changed during the Dave & Buster's project timeline.
Bass Pro Shops opened on April 16, 2025, about nine months before the original January 2026 target opening for Dave & Buster's. The store was designed as a custom tribute to East Texas's outdoor heritage rather than a standard-issue big box, which is part of why it's become a genuine destination rather than just another anchor tenant.
The fenced construction lot sits across from Studio Movie Grill and Urban Air, which have been open and running during this period. Planet Fitness anchors another side of the same block.
For anyone in Oak Creek considering a trip down Broadway, several stops remain worth considering while the project is underway. Dinner and a movie at Studio Movie Grill, an afternoon at Urban Air, or an hour wandering the boat and firearm departments at Bass Pro Shops have all been available the entire time the fenced lot sat empty.
The Playground and the Dave & Buster's Project
The playground's closure is another part of the timeline. It wasn't phased out or relocated. It was closed in December 2025, with signage explaining the closure was to make way for construction, and then the lot sat mostly untouched until bulldozers arrived nearly five months later.
Families who used the playground before or after a shopping trip have not had access to it since December 2025. As of this writing, it had not reopened, and the Dave & Buster's location had no announced opening date.
The Legacy Trail Near Oak Creek
A few minutes away, the Legacy Trail runs near Oak Creek's entrance.
The Legacy Trail's first phase begins at the Three Lakes Parkway trailhead near FRESH by Brookshire's, the same access point named in Oak Creek's own subdivision materials as the neighborhood's connection to the trail system. From there, the 4.5-mile paved path runs south along the old Cotton Belt rail bed, past Toll 49, toward Gresham and on toward Flint. It's been open since a ribbon-cutting in July 2019 and hasn't extended any further north or south since.
In January 2026, the city opened a second phase of Legacy Trail, a separate two-mile stretch running from the future Stewart Park site through Winters Park to Peete Elementary. It's a real addition to Tyler's trail network, but it sits across town and isn't connected to the segment that starts at Oak Creek's doorstep.
City planning documents describe the eventual goal as linking the two phases into one continuous system. The connector piece, however, is tied to the Old Jacksonville Highway widening project, which will take the road from four lanes to six. Earlier city reporting in 2024 estimated that widening would begin in 2026. The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization now lists 2030 for construction, four years after the timeline city officials described when Phase II was still in the design stage.
Practically, the trail accessible from Oak Creek's entrance remains a straight run south toward Gresham and is not connected to the Phase II segment. The two phases are intended to connect through the Old Jacksonville Highway project.
Across this part of Tyler, existing businesses and the first trail segment are available now, while the Dave & Buster's project and the planned trail connector remain at different stages.
For now, options open on this stretch of Broadway include the fishing and hunting departments at Bass Pro Shops, a movie at Studio Movie Grill, and an afternoon at Urban Air. Dave & Buster's has no announced opening date.
If you're curious about what else is shifting around Oak Creek or the rest of South Tyler, The Agency Tyler keeps an eye on these corridors from downtown Tyler and is always glad to talk through what we're seeing block by block.
