El Paso City Council voting on possible location for Multipurpose Center

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Members of El Paso City Council will be voting on Tuesday, Feb. 13, on wheter the Union Depot area will be the location for the Multipurpose Performing Arts & Entertainment Center.

There is more than $150 million dollars allocated to the project.

The city is calling this "Phase 2"of the Multipurpose Center, and has the title, "Environmental Site & Assessment Report."

The historic Union Depot building will be preserved, the presentation attached to the agenda item says it will be "adaptive reuse of historic building".

The City of El Paso sent ABC-7 the following statement:

"At the direction of the Council, City staff explored alternative sites for the voter-approved Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center. At the regularly scheduled Council meeting on Tuesday, February 13, City staff will present a recommendation for an alternate site. The recommendation to develop the project on city-owned land within the Union Depot area, which would promote the adaptive re-use of a historic building and revitalize downtown while honoring the will of the voters by delivering a modern facility that is viable and profitable and within the voter-approved budget."

ABC-7 spoke with Emma Acosta, a member of the City's Bond Overview Advisory Committee, who spoke about the money left over from the 2012 bond.

"If you only use the money that's still available, 150 million is going to be a much smaller venue than what was envisioned back a decade ago."

On June 5, 2023, City Council made the motion to look for alternative sites for the Multipurpose Center.