City considering new site for regional water park project

The City of El Paso is considering a new site for its regional water park project: a portion of land on the property of Ross Middle School.

The project, approved through the 2012 quality of life bond, was originally set to serve as a replacement of the old Chelsea Pool. City Council approved expanding the scope of the project, which will now include a lazy river, a lap pool, a slide, a toddler pool, as well as all the associated amenities you would expect at a water park.

The City has considered building the park on a piece of land at 900 Radford, but neighbors have taken issue with that idea.

“The concern here with the neighbors and everybody is going to be the parking,” Tony Abeyta told ABC-7. “If they don’t have adequate parking, I think maybe they should move it.”

El Paso City Engineer Sam Rodriguez said, through preliminary studies, they recognized there is an issue with the parking at that location.

“We anticipate there’s going to be parking across Montana so if you can imagine folks walking with their bags and everything across Montana, it would cause a safety concern,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the El Paso Independent School District is currently combining Hughey Elementary School and Ross Middle School into a K-8 center. He said, that as part of the redevelopment, portable buildings next to the baseball field are being torn down. Therefore, the open space would be available for the water park to be built.

“This is going to allow us the space that we need in terms of size,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the City is currently negotiating an agreement with the El Paso Independent School District to build the water park near Ross Middle School.

The City is now holding public meetings to talk about the proposed changes.

They are on Monday at 6 p.m., April 23, 2018, inside the Hillside Elementary School cafeteria and Wednesday at 6 p.m., April 25, 2018, inside the Ross Middle School cafeteria.