Historic Landmark Commission recommends City reconsider downtown arena
City officials, including City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, spent part of Monday trying to persuade the Historical Landmark Commission (HLC) to support the proposed location for the downtown arena.
Instead, in a 6-0 vote with three abstentions, the HLC voted to recommend to City Council that it reconsider the downtown arena project.
In a letter sent to the HLC Monday, County Commissioner David Stout who represents the area of the proposed location, said the process of selecting the location concerned him. Stout said the window for public comment was too short. He added that residents, including historic preservation experts, were left out of a decision-making process.
He added that he along with the public have not been given sufficient information as to why alternative sites were not considered.
Although no buildings in the designated area are listed on any historical register, Stout said previous surveys have recommended certain properties be designated as such. The County has been working to start a historical survey of El Paso since the beginning of the year, and the arena has added additional incentive to begin the project.
Although El Paso County’s historical survey will help give inventory of the area, County Judge Veronica Esocbar has said it won’t change the outcome of anything. “We are not trying to interfere,” Escobar said. “It doesn’t decrease the city power or the property owner’s ability to do what they want to with their properties.”
Previous to Monday’s vote, the HLC itself was torn over whether to formally support or oppose the arena’s proposed location.
Last month, HLC members decided to do more research before making a decision as a group, after expressing their differing opinions. While some of the members believed there were a handful of buildings with historic value within the arena’s footprint, just as many thought the city chose the right location.
In that HLC meeting, Commissioner D.J. Sevigny said he believed there are a handful of buildings with historical value, but that value is diminished by a nearby tire store and Greyhound bus stop.
“The surrounding area would greatly benefit from this,” he told other commissioners. “I’ve been to numerous other cities, and have seen the amount of activity around sports venues is fantastic. And I am speaking specifically looking at south El Paso street because that is a very commercial corridor,” said Sevigny.
Another commissioner, Don Luciano, believed the city made the right choice.
“I think having the convention center and having this new arena, they need to be close to each other. A lot of conventions that come here will need both facilities,” Luciano said.
Like County Commissioner David Stout, some on the HLC board were concerned with how city council approved the location just days after it was announced, squashing the potential for dialogue.
Some city council members have said they were setting up a meeting the residents on Nov.16 at Fire Station 11.
BACKGROUND
On October 13, the city announced its plan to acquire a two block area south of the Downtown Convention Center for the voter-approved $180 million dollar Multipurpose Cultural and Performing Arts Facility. The “targeted footprint” for the arena would be bound by West San Antonio Avenue, South Santa Fe Street, West Paisano Street, and Leon Street.
One week later, council approved the location.
The city has said only six parcels included in the footprint site are recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historical Places. The properties include Fire Station No. 11, the Wholesale Auto Supply at 308 Chihuahua Street and the Mansion House at 306 West Overland. Two other properties on Overland and two on Chihuahua St. were also included in the list.
The city added that not only is the site not designated as a historic district, no action has been taken by the city, or any of the private property owners, to add any of the parcels within that site to the national register.
Almost immediately after council approved the proposed location, opponents began to voice their concerns. Some were residents living in the area known as the Union Plaza neighborhood, many of which are low-income and elderly. Some expressed their concerns at a city council meeting, saying there is no way they can move without any help.
City Attorney Sylvia Firth clarified that support services will be offered to those displaced, and that the city will bear the expense of relocating the families. Firth has previously stated that 17 families, estimated at 47 people, will be affected by the arena’s location. Firth said the city would follow federal and state guidelines when it comes to relocating businesses and residents, with the goal to keep everyone who wants to remain in the Downtown area in Downtown.
The El Paso County Historical Commission has also opposed the arena’s location, calling it “un-American.” In a petition against the location, the County Historical Commission said many Mexican-American families have lived in the area for generations. To demolish their neighborhood for an entertainment arena, which will be located across the street from the planned Mexican-American Cultural Center, is “ironic and perverse.” Aside from the relocation of families, it said the location will force the city to demolish two dozen historic buildings, and wipe out most of the historic Durangito neighborhood.
