TXDOT project to spare Lincoln Center from demolition

The Texas Department of Transportation will embark on a major project in 2019 to help drivers connect from Interstate 10 to Loop 375 (Cesar Chavez Border Highway).

It is a plan that was in the works for several years, but TxDOT was also met with opposition because construction meant tearing down the Lincoln Center in central El Paso.

TxDOT’s project, I-10 Connect, is meant to add direct connectors between I-10, U.S. 54, Loop 375 and I-110.

I-110 is most commonly known as the ramp that takes drivers to the Bridge of the Americas and into Juarez. Drivers can also take that route to catch the Border Highway, but may get stuck in traffic with vehicles and 18-wheelers trying to cross into Mexico.

TxDOT will begin construction as early as January 2019 to build a connector to the Border Highway, bypassing congestion near the entrance of the Bridge of the Americas.

In early 2014, TxDOT announced plans to demolish the Lincoln Center to accommodate construction and surround the building with a chain link fence.

That decision came with swift opposition as supporters camped out for days at Lincoln Center to protest against the City of El Paso and TxDOT.

In May 2014 after days of protests, TxDOT removed the fencing and said it would review its construction plans.

Two years later, TxDOT officials said they had several plans of construction to avoid knocking down the Lincoln Center.

Now, TxDOT’s chief engineer Bob Bielek said while the plan will spare the Lincoln Center, some of the murals painted on the pillars of I-10 and I-110 will have to be knocked down.

“Those that are going to be demolished, TxDOT will make a video record of that, we’ll provide it to a number of facilities,” Bielek said.

Bielek said it has met with the Licoln Center Conservation Committee about its plans and decided that at least one of the murals will be saved.

The mural of that Virgin Mary on the corner of Durazno and Martinez will not be demolished.

“We are going to keep it in place. We’re going to cut the column off and fix the top of it so it doesn’t look like it was cut off and just left there,” Bielek said.

ABC-7 talked to a member of the Lincoln Conservation Committee, Dr. Miguel Juarez who said the group is “OK” with TxDOT’s plan.

Juarez said the group asked TxDOT’s to leave the Virgin Mary mural untouched.

He said it was the first painting that went up at Lincoln Park. It was painted in 1981 by the late Felipe Adame.

Juarez also said the committee has formed a “good working relationship” with TxDOT.

TxDOT will host a public hearing on Monday, July 30 at 5 p.m. and a formal presentation will begin at 6 p.m.

The hearing will take place at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Medical Education Building, located at 5001 El Paso Dr.