El Paso City Council rejects deal to end Cohen Stadium lease with Diablos
El Paso City Council passed a motion June 4 to reject the mutual lease termination agreement with the Tiguas over their lease of Cohen Stadium.
The El Paso Diablos, owned by the Tiguas, will continue to play at Cohen Stadium and the lease will end in 2016 as it is scheduled to.
The motion includes a provision that the City work with the Tiguas through the term of the lease and to work with them to continue to have Cohen Stadium be an enterainment venue.
The motion passed 7-1 with City Rep. Cortney Niland the only one to vote against it.
The deal to end the lease would have included the City forgiving all past due electric and rent bills that City Manager Joyce Wilson estimates are about $100,000. They also would have reimbursed the Diablos a rent credit for $110,000 for the scoreboard. The City also would have given them an additional $150,000 for other improvements the Diablos paid for and paid them $40,000 to advertise for the new Triple-A baseball stadium until the lease ends October 1st.
It wouldn’t have made up for the $750,000 in improvements to Cohen Stadium the Tiguas claim they invested, a claim that Wilson said couldn’t be confirmed.
