Burned building still stands, one year later

More than a year after a massive fire tore through a vacant building, destroying it, the heavily damaged structure across from Beall Elementary School is still standing.

ABC-7 wanted to find out why the building at 3001 Rivera Avenue in South-Central El Paso has been allowed to stay this way since it burned on Nov. 17, 2014.

The building is surrounded by a chain-link fence, but the collapsing structure is creating a major eyesore for this small neighborhood.

“We can’t walk. We’ve got to go through the street. And it just needs to be fixed,” Andy Gardea told ABC-7 as he walked to Bowie High School with his brother, Alex, who added, “This is not a bad neighborhood — it’s a very good neighborhood — and it makes it seem bad.”

“A building like this would have to be ultimately be condemned and demolished,” El Paso Fire Marshal Orlando Arriola told ABC-7. “If we actually go onto the premises and walk on the other side of the fence, of course, there are a lot of hazards there. But that’s why this fence is up. It gives us that protection.”

ABC-7 learned from Arriola that the building will stay this way for a while longer.

“When you see a fence around it, that means the city has already come to some agreement with the property owner,” Arriola said.

ABC-7 reported in 2014 that nonprofit organization Project Vida bought the building a week before it caught fire.

Vida, which provides a variety of services including homeless prevention, housing and economic development, had purchased the vacant property with the intention of creating affordable housing apartments for the area.

Executive director Bill Schlesinger told ABC-7 in a phone conversation that the organization hasn’t given up its vision of building affordable apartments on this property, and has been working to acquire federal funding to help offset the costs.

Schlesinger also said the existing property has asbestos, and demolition won’t be allowed until an environmental study is completed. He referred ABC-7 to the city’s community development department for further explanation and details on the process.

“It is a tedious process,” City of El Paso Community Development Dept. director Veronica Soto said. “We have to abide by the federal rules since this is federal money, and we have to make sure we make the site safe.”

Soto told ABC-7 that the city is awaiting an environmental clearance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which can take up to 45 days. Once approved, the building will be demolished and construction can begin.

“For certain, we have to have construction of the new units by this time next year,” Soto said. “So, September 2016 we have to have started construction.”

Meantime, residents will have to remain patient and hope for a new view come November 2016.

“I know they’re probably tired of seeing the blighted structure, but it’s going to turn into a bright spot for the neighborhood,” said Soto.

According to the minutes for the City Council meeting Sept. 22, council approved a resolution that listed the funding of an affordable housing apartment complex at 3001 Rivera. According to the resolution, the two-story structure will consist of ten 2- and 3-bedroom apartment units capable of housing families.

The project was approved for $1.5 million of HUD funding.