County approves survey of historical buildings Downtown
and i’m rick cabrera. the county is moving forward with a downtown historical survey… that the city voted down just months ago. abc-7’s andrew j. polk is live with the details. andrew? rick and estela, touting major benefits and no restrictions placed on property owners by this survey, historic preservation advocates say its win-win. :10 :31 1:00 “it’s really exciting. it’s bee a long process.” bradford patterson, director of community heritage development with the texas historical commission… flew to el paso for the commissioner’s vote. “the county actually took and moved to the forefront doing a historic resource survey for downtown and the surrounding area. so it’s really important from a policy standpoint and understanding to be able – to know what is actually there in the community in order to be able to promote it for heritage tourism or bring in economic investment. and that’s where this really shines.” commissioners, who have supported historical renovations and reuse in projects like the o.t. bassett tower, voted unanimously in favor. “el pas has a very rich history. and communities like el paso capitalize on that history generally. and they do it not just through events or reinactments, they do it by preserving their history as well in their buildings.” joe gudenrath of the downtown management district says it’s the ability of the city to create restrictions on building usage that had them concerned. “the were both doing the same thing – the intent was to create a national registry. but there is some concern that this would be one step towards the expansion of the local district. and that would be something that i think at this point in time in our downtown, we want to be very careful. we’re really starting to see the private development happen, and i don’t believe now is the time to add additional regulations.” with the approval by commissioners today, the next step will be to hire a firm and start the survey … a process expected to take about a year. rick and estela?
