Renovated San Jacinto Plaza won’t inclucde public restrooms

While many are excited about the revamping of El Paso’s iconic plaza, some were outraged when they learned there will be no public restrooms when the plaza reopens.

City council voted Monday not to build self-cleaning restrooms.

The cost: $400,000 for installation and inspection.

During Monday’s meeting, project manager Rick Venegas told council that amount is not in the budget, not even half.

The $6 million dollar project to renovate San Jacinto Plaza is expected to be complete in February.

With the final phases of construction underway, one city representative said it would send a bad message to the public if the project was delayed further,adding the restrooms are not necessary.

A local restaurant owner disagrees.

Gelaine Upuan, owner of Mac’s Place Restaurant said it is disappointing to know city council voted against the restrooms.

“I’m not quite understanding why they’re not building restrooms. We need to attract people to downtown, it seems like we’re scaring them away. It’s be two and a half year, we need this park back,” said Upuan.

ABC-7 asked the city’s construction and engineering department how much it would cost to install more basic restrooms with plumbing.

An official saidthey don’t have that information because that’s not the option council asked them to explore.