Park at the top of Scenic Drive to be renovated in the near future

Murchison Rogers Park, located at the top of Scenic Drive, will be renovated in the near future.

The City of El Paso is planning to enter a public-private partnership with the El Paso Community Foundation to fund improvements to the park. City officials tell ABC-7 the foundation will fund 2/3 of the project through donations and the city will fund the remainder, which is estimated to cost $5 million.

“They have three years to raise the money. I think they’re anticipating from the Foundation could be 1-2, possibly 3 years depending on how much money is raised,” Sam Rodriguez, City of El Paso’s Capital Improvement Department Director said.

The city plans to improve parking, add ADA-accessible paths, shade trees and add cantilever lookouts. One of the biggest improvements will be the ADA accessible paths, as the lower outlook area is only accessible through stairs. There are also only two paths and rock formations that may prevent access to the edge of the park.

“To be able to walk down the ramps and be able to actually access the outlook areas of the lower part of the park,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez adds the park, which has been around for 50 years, is one of the most-visited parks in the city. He believes the project will only encourage visitors in the future.

“From a tourist perspective I know a lot of folks come in from out of town they have families that come in. For a lot of people, that’s the place to take them because it’s such a great view, such a great amenity for the community and then to create those cantilever outlooks it will be such a fantastic, new thing for that park and we definitely anticipate a big increase to the visitors in that area,” Rodriguez said.