City to fine San Jacinto Plaza contractor $1,000 a day

proven to be very successful and popular for el paso. in less than a year, we went from rubble… to a stadium rated as one of the nicest in all the country. so you might be thinking … if they can build an entire baseball stadium that’s nationally revered in less than a year… what in the world is going on with the san jacinto plaza? “Um, and instead of rushing the process, and delivering a product, um, that is not up to the standards of which we negotiated with the contractor, we are making sure that the investment that this community is making in this park is exactly what they’re expecting.” just two weeks ago, an abc-seven special report put city officials on the record about delays with the renovations. they blame problems with the contractor. we showed you in 12 months, the plaza went from this … To this. it was originally supposed to be done last november. that was then pushed back to march as of this month, the city is no longer willing to commit to a completion date. tonight: new information on how the city is putting financial pressure on the contractor. that’s where our maria garcia is live: this is one of el paso’s historic gems. one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. but for over a year now – all people can see is this: some parts finished like those benches there – but look at the middle: filled with construction equipment. now it’ll cost the contractor a thousand dollars a day until it’s finished: 17:27 the project is overdue. city attorney silvia borunda firth says the city’s legal team is now working with the contractor’s attorneys to get san jacinto finished. essentially fining the contractor a thousand dollars a day effective may fourth: which right now is about 16- thousand dollars. 17:45 we expect to speak to them very shortly with regard to a revised timeline and an action plant for completion of the park an abc-7 investigation revealed there were nearly two dozen change orders on the san jacinto plaza construction. most of them came after the city council adopted new goals, like promoting el paso’s visual image. 04:54 if we look at downtown el paso as the living room of the entire city the way city officials portray it, then this is not the kind of living room most people want. It’s Wednesday in the middle of the day and we don’t see any workers in sight. the city says work is happening. but there are some logistics to work around. like holding off on landscaping the middle of the park until crews install a big canopy: 02:55 ‘that whole entire quadron of the park it has not been developed and that’s the reason because heavy vehicles are still going through