El Paso City Council chooses site for new Children’s Museum in Downtown

Nearly four years after residents approved the Quality of Life bond, the City has found a home for the new Children’s Museum.

It was promised to be a 30,000 sq.ft. facility full of interactive, educational exhibits with learning opportunities in the areas of science, arts, engineering, technology, and the environment.

“This is just so exciting,” said Rep. Cortney Niland. “You could not have done a better job on this.”

In a unanimous vote, El Paso’s City council chose to spent just under $1.27 million on buying 201 W. Main from Greyhound. The building sits near the Downtown Arts District, close to the El Paso art and history museums, near Plaza Theatre and Southwest University Park, making it an optimal spot for a children’s museum.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work since council authorized this to go forward,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez.

The city struck a deal with Greyhound. Greyhound will pay to rid the area of asbestos and remove underground storage tanks.
The city will pay for the building’s demolition up to $200,000. Greyhound will move to Sun Metro’s Facility on 700 San Francisco, paying about $115,000 a year in rent.

To sweeten the deal, Greyhound has promised a contribution to the new museum.

“I think they want to make a big splash about it, so we’re excited about that,” Gonzalez said. “They said it was significant and to me significant isn’t going to be a small amount of money.”

Next week council is expected to talk about the status of other Quality of Life bond projects, including the Cultural Center.