After three years of work, AT&T is getting close to opening its $100 million Discovery District on the south side of downtown.

The company’s five-block office campus at Commerce and Akard streets is being transformed into an area of open public venues with digital displays and new restaurants and retail stores.

Along with providing a better environment for AT&T’s more than 5,500 headquarters workers, the Discovery District project aims to be a new centerpiece for downtown.

“The AT&T Discovery District is coming to life,” AT&T’s Michelle Brockwell said at a Tuesday meeting of the Downtown Dallas economic development group. “It will be a destination unlike any other and will be open to all and offer a wide range of attractions.

“Dallas is AT&T’s home, and we are very committed to improving and growing and making it a better place to live, work and visit.”

The Discovery District will open to the public in May, but you can already see big changes in the area.

Along with the revamped plaza area in front of AT&T’s headquarters towers, there’s a 104-foot-tall media wall and a 30-foot-high digital globe sculpture that dominate the setting.

But what downtown workers and residents are really waiting for is the 65,000 square feet of additional retail and restaurant space that are being added to the business campus.

“Coming soon, will be an array of locally and nationally acclaimed restaurant options that will add vibrancy to the downtown dining scene,” Brockwell said.

Cowboys Fit, a Dallas Cowboys themed workout center, has already opened on Jackson Street in the Interurban Building.

AT&T is also building an art gallery as part of the Discovery District.

“The AT&T Showcase will be an art gallery open to all featuring a constant rotation of exhibits,” Brockwell said.

Downtown pedestrians are already getting an eyeful of the seven-story tall media wall that faces the Adolphus Hotel on Commerce Street.

“We are already starting to test visuals on that 104-foot wall,” Brockwell said.

The high-definition display wraps around the corner of a building at Akard and Jackson streets.

The giant display wall will be used to showcase digital art, and for special events it can do everything from showing classic movies to hosting Dallas Cowboys watch parties.

Sound systems and lighting throughout the plaza will be tied in to the displays.