Survey: El Pasoans split on arena project location in Duranguito

A recent poll shows El Pasoans remain very much divided as to whether the multipurpose cultural arts facility should be built in the Duranguito neighborhood downtown.

For the second consecutive year, ABC-7 commissioned a survey of 400 El Pasoans who watch at least one evening newscast, twice a week. In 2019, 328 of those surveyed responded to this question: Are you in favor or opposed to the construction of the downtown arena in the Duranguito District? The phone and online survey was conducted by the research company Magid in January.

Thirty-one percent of respondents say they are in favor, 31 percent say they are opposed and 38 percent responded they were undecided.

In 2018, 26 percent of respondents responded they were in favor to 37 percent opposed. The survey has a margin of error of 5.4 percent.

The most significant change in the survey over the last year was seen in how the following demographics responded: males, those with a college degree or more and those with an income level that exceeds more than $100,000 a year.

According to the poll, 42 percent of men are in favor of the Duranguito site, up from 32 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, only 21 percent of women are in favor, while 38 percent oppose the site.

The poll shows a signficant jump in favor of the Duranguito site among people with a college degree or more.

Of those polled, half with that level of education favored the site while only 18 percent opposed. In 2018, only 30 percent of college gradurates who participated in the poll were in favor.

When it comes to an education level of high school or less, only 19 percent of those polled are in favor of the site.

Those polled with the highest income levels are most in favor of the Duranguito site. In 2019, 42 percent of those polled making $100,000 a year or more said they were in favor compared to just 18 percent opposed.

That’s an almost complete reversal from 2018 when only 17 percent were in favor and 42 percent opposed. The poll found only 22 percent of those making less than $35,000 a year are in favor of the Duranguito site.

For the second consecutive year, ABC-7 showed the results to the two men at the forefront of the ongoing battle over where to build the multipurpose cultural arts facility: El Paso Mayor Dee Margo and architechtural historian Max Grossman.

“These results don’t surprise me at all,” Grossman said.

He wants to preserve the Duranguito neighborhood and focus on heritage tourism opportunities there.

“I would throw in a percentage of the undecided in with the favorable as you always do with any type of poll,” Mayor Margo said. “I still think that the majority of El Pasoans want us to complete the project that 72 percent voted for in 2012 and I still consider it my fiduciary duty to move ahead.”

Approximately 102,000 El Pasoans voted in favor it as part of the quality of life bond election. But Grossman cites a recent report by ABC-7 that shows the arena project could cost roughly $70 million more than the original $180,000,000 price tag without voter approval.

“This is a form of economic tyranny,” Grossman said. “This is a form of corruption.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Mayor Margo said. “I’m appaled at some of the things he says without foundation and I would question significantly the veracity of anything he says.”

Mayor Margo says the arena construction won’t necessarily come with debt.

“We need to understand we don’t necessarily need to do debt for the completion of the multipurpose special events center. If we can sell naming rights or some of the other sponsorships that come with it, we will mitigate signifcantly the need for any outside or extra debt to complete the project.”

The arena dispute has gone through several years of litigation battles, but both sides say a compromise was nearly reached within the last year outside the courts. The details of the negotiations, which included slightly shifting the proposed site by a block, are not entirely clear, but those talks stalled by last summer.

“We thought on our side we were very close to a compromise,” Grossman said.

“Any time I can stop legal fees and figure out how to complete a project, you betcha,” Mayor Margo said. “I’ll have a conversation.”

But no conversations have taken place since. Meanwhile, the legal fees continue to mount. Mayor Margo confirmed with ABC-7 nearly $1.3 million have been spent on litigation to date.

ABC-7 asked the mayor if he thinks a resolution in the courts is near.

“Oh, I know we are [close]. I think we’re well within six or eight months, I hope, of having it all resolved. It could be sooner.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Grossman said. “There are many paths forward that would end this crisis, but I want to be clear. We are prepared to go on for as long as necessary. We have the determination and we have the means.”

For a complete look at the results of the same scientific poll ABC-7 conducted in 2018, click here.