Dozens protest City meeting regarding Mexican American Cultural Center location

Dozens of demonstrators gathered to protest the city’s proposal to build the Mexican American Cultural Center in the downtown public library.

The City of El Paso hosted an open house on Thursday to answer questions regarding the proposed location.

Demonstrators quickly took over the room and began voicing their displeasure over the proposal.

Former district 7 city council representative Lily Limon helped organize the demonstration.

“I think that the biggest concern that we have is that it’s a farce what’s being presented today,” Limon said. “There is no way that an annex is going to suffice for a community that is 82-percent Mexican-American. It is really an insult.”

A $5.7 million Mexican American Cultural Center was approved by voters as part of the 2012 quality of life bond.

The original plan was to retrofit the Abraham Chavez Theater downtown to include the center. The city partnered up with the Mexican American Cultural Institute (MACI), which pledged to fundraise $20 million for the project. The budget for the project ballooned to $35 million.

In September 2017, concerns were brought up over MACI’s ability to raise the money, because the non-profit was operating in the red.

In October of that year, city council voted to cut ties with MACI, and instructed city staff to find another location.

The Director of the Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, Tracy Jerome, defended the decision to incorporate the center as part of the library.

“The main library branch, a portion of it — 40-percent of that space — is the recommendation that we’re going to move forward for as the site recommendation,” Jerome said. “The main library branch is going to be enhanced by this. They’re not going to lose any of their services. They’re actually going to be gaining a lot of additional opportunities.”

Jerome said her department is going to ask city council to increase the budget to more than $15 million on Tuesday.

“I want to make sure that we have a sustainable institution,” Jerome said.

Robert Diaz often frequents the downtown library. He said he’s intrigued by the proposal, but still has some questions.

“Ultimately, what needs to be done is that the library needs to be preserved,” Diaz said. “If there is a way to augment that, I think that would be a wonderful opportunity as well.”

City council will vote on whether to accept the proposal and increase the budget on Tuesday, September 18.