Temporary injunction protecting Duranguito buildings dissolved

The temporary injunction protecting buildings in an embattled neighborhood in Downtown El Paso was dissolved late Thursday evening.

The Facebook account for Paso del Sur, a group working for the protection and preservation of the Duranguito neighborhood, announced the dissolution of the injunction. The post also called for people to come to the neighborhood to protect the buildings from demolition.

When an ABC-7 crew arrived on the scene, about a dozen members of the group were there.

Paso del Sur acquired the injunction Sept. 11, 2017. Despite the injunction, bulldozers demolished parts of five buildings the next day. Yolanda Leyva, a member of Paso del Sur, was there.

“I was feeling pretty good because we had the court injunction and I thought the city would follow the law,” Leyva said. “What I found when I got here was … an 89-year-old resident who tried to stop the demolition. They had already taken out corners of buildings.”

Because of the previous experience with the demolition, Paso del Sur wants to make sure a repeat does not happen on Friday.

“We can’t trust the city,” Leyva told ABC-7. “We are here making sure nothing happens tonight.”

ABC-7 reported in October that the city denied responsibility for the demolition, saying the injunction was not directed at the property owners.

The group says lawyers are trying to have the injunction reinstated, but they will not hear anything back until Friday morning or afternoon.

On Monday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city’s efforts to build an arena in Duranguito.