City says water park at Cohen Stadium was bad investment

City officials said Wednesday a water park at Cohen Stadium was not a good investment because the bidding companies wanted the city to foot the bill to construct the more than $20 million facility.

“One, we’d donate the land. Two, they want us to build the facility. To me that’s not a partnership,” said City Rep. Carl Robinson, who represents Northeast El Paso.

Last summer, the city sent a request for proposal to 42 water park companies for the development of 39 acres next to Cohen Stadium. Two companies, Hawaiian Falls and Field House USA submitted bids to the city. Under both proposals, the city would construct the water park at a cost of more than $20 million to the taxpayers.

“That’s money that we would have to borrow, with interest – that’s not economically feasible for us. The idea is still there . I’m still all for it. But at what cost? You can’t just give away the farm,” said Robinson.

There are questions about the bidding process. Our partners at El Paso Inc, through an open records request found emails that show city employees asked one of the water park companies for a copy of a similar request from another city where it won the bid. “I can tell you that it is best practice to contact companies and understand their side criteria and understand how they evaluate a market,” said Jessica Herrera with the city’s Economic Development Department.

Robinson said the city is not giving up on the site. “There’s a going trend around the country around the nation where companies are asking the cities to foot the bill on stadiums and arenas and things of that nature and sometimes were able to do it and sometimes we’re not.”

The city is soon installing a splash pad at Sue Young Park.