Cohen Stadium master plan does not include Cohen Stadium

Hundreds packed a community meeting Monday night focused on the future of Cohen Stadium in northeast El Paso.

The meeting was held at the El Paso Community College Transmountain campus.

For many who live and work in northeast El Paso, the dilapidated Cohen Stadium has become more than just an eyesore. It’s a reminder that most of the city’s big development and redevelopment projects are not happening on that side of town.

District 4 Rep. Sam Morgan is working to change that and said he has the support of the mayor, council and city staff to redevelop the Cohen Stadium area.

At Monday night’s meeting, city officials unveiled the first draft of master plan and listened to public input on the topic.

It was the project architect who showed the crowd what the future could look like. Drawings did not include the existing Cohen Stadium.

Instead, the area is home to hotels, apartments, multi-family housing, office space, a park, aquatic center, retail shops and a zip line.

Not everyone was impressed with the idea. After the presentation, people lined up to let officials know what they thought.

“Why is the city getting involved in developing a complete community? It is not their job. Their job is to run the city,” said one resident.

The architect said the hotels could help draw more sports tournaments to the area.

But that did not sit well for those looking for other types of entertainment.

“Less athletics, less sports, more entertainment,” said one resident. The man also questioned why the project includes housing and shops.

“Why do we need more residential, why do we need more retail? We have plenty of malls. We have plenty of apartments, houses for rent. We don’t need additional residential space,” the man said.

Residents came with lots of ideas. Some water to see a water park, equestrian center, an old west town or another large entertainment center that would draw people to northeast El Paso.

Others questioned whether officials have already made up their minds about the future of Cohen stadium.

“It seems like we just all showed up and this is the plan that you have and like you want to hear little comments. But it doesn’t feel very transparent. It feels like you don’t really want our input, I feel like this may be set in stone,” said one woman.

But city officials assured the crowd the master plan is a work in progress.

“We gave you a place to start. So take it for what it is. It’s a concept. This is not the final master plan,” Morgan said.

The city plans to take the public’s input and come back with possible revisions to the master plan by January.