City reviewing Country Club Road project artwork

City of El Paso officials say the Country Club Road project is finally nearing completion, but they’re not sure the public art aspect will be finished by the time the road reopens.

As it turns out, the public art piece, called “Uplift,” didn’t look quite the way it should have during installation, according to a news release. It’s supposed to be at the roundabout under construction on Country Club Road and Memory Lane in the upper valley. The city’s public art team is now trying to work with the artist to figure out the next step.

“The foreman told me it was gonna be opened mid-April,” resident Don Van Pelt said. “But if he tells me what time it is, I have to look at my watch. They just don’t have any credibility.” Van Pelt told ABC-7 the project has been delayed at least once before. He said he feels for his neighbors and the business owners frustrated by construction on Country Club Road.

Van Pelt said he saw the art piece by Margarita Cabrera being installed at the roundabout, but it left as quickly as it came.

“We just want to ensure quality work and something that’s gonna stand the test of time,” El Paso Quality of Life Managing Director Bryan Crowe said. “We had some concerns with the fabrication so we’re gonna be taking those up with the artist.”

“Sounds like another excuse to me. Of course, I’m not familiar with what they had expected in the artwork. If you didn’t know the history of it, which I don’t, you wouldn’t know what it was,” Van Pelt said.

The piece is supposed include gun metal donated by El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles.

Regardless of the design setback, Crowe said Country Club is expected to reopen April 17.

ABC-7 reached out to the artist for comment, but did not hear back. The reconstruction on Country Club Road is meant to improve traffic flow by adding a center two-way left turn lane, the traffic circle at Memory Lane and right turn lanes at Montoya Road. The project will also accommodate the replacement of utility lines between Doniphan Drive and River Run Street.