Coliseum’s New Outdoor Stage Arrives; Concerts On Way

Tired of big outdoor concerts skipping the Sun City?

That could all change soon with the arrival of a new massive, outdoor portable stage, one that’ll turn the El Paso County Coliseum parking lot and other areas of town into a concert venue for tens of thousands of people.

The reason a lot of bands skip El Paso, according to Coliseum Director Brian Kennedy, is the city doesn’t have a venue big enough for 15,000 to 25,000 music fans.

But the arrival of this new stage could solve that problem, which is good news for music fans, but may be bad news for the neighborhood.

“The new stage is here and it’s kind of like a transformer,” Kennedy said. “It goes from being a truck to the best stage in the Southwest.”

Kennedy projects up to 25,000 will fit in the temporary venue for concerts in the Coliseum parking lot.

“The sports commission took a note out on it,? Kennedy said. ?The revenue of course goes to the County of El Paso, which is great. It also gives us another opportunity for more entertainment in the county.”

The $850,000 stage takes about eight hours to set up, but it can travel all over town, from Downtown El Paso to the Sun Bowl, Ascarate Park, as well as the Coliseum parking lot.

?Now, when the big shows are looking at coming through town, they don’t have to worry about trucking a stage from Montreal, which they used to do,? Kennedy said. ?Now they can say we have one in El Paso, so it lowers the cost for the promoter to have a show here in town.”

But not everybody in the area is happy about it.

The Housing Authority of the City of El Paso, which fought the concept at Commissioners Court when it came up about a year and a half ago, is about to open a new $13 million green community for seniors right next to the Coliseum.

?We’re looking at leasing those units somewhere around the early July time frame,? Housing Authority spokesman Shane Griffith said. ?So that’s probably when it’ll turn out right when the Coliseum has its first concert.”

Kennedy said he doesn?t think noise will be a problem.

?We are going to use the Coliseum as a noise block from where we’re going to set the stage,? Kennedy said. ?You will be able to hear it, but you’ll be able to hear it when we have Fiesta de las Floras here and they’ve been here for about 10 years or so.”

Kennedy said he does expect the first outdoor concert within the next month and a half, about the same time residents will be moving into the new senior community.

Housing Authority officials told said they are confident if there are issues they will be able to resolve them with their Coliseum neighbors.

Kennedy said the stage could first be used for a concert in the Sun Bowl. Among the outdoor acts he’s working on are KISS, Motley Crue and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.