City of El Paso holds public meeting to share study findings on upgrading downtown
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — The city of El Paso is looking to enhance union plaza, which could include a new multi-purpose building.
The city will be hosting a public meeting to discuss findings of the Multi-Purpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center (MPC).
The meeting will help the community learn about the preliminary findings of the study for the voter-approved MPC.
Consultants will share their key findings and give an overview of where the city is with the ongoing study that kicked off in May of this year.
"It will be an opportunity for participants to also do some surveying as far as what they envision happening in the project site and you know build excitement around the findings that we’re getting so far," Daniela Quesada the chief architect in the city's capital improvement department said.
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During this study, the city found that there is a market gap within all regional facilities.
There is no modern facility in the region with 8-10,000 seats that can accommodate the shows that travel through the area, according to Quesada.
The El Paso City Council wants to look at the most responsible way to move forward with this project.
"We are really moving in a data driven process to get to really informed to get recommendations that are informed by data so that counsel can make the best decisions moving forward with the project," Quesada said.
The study doesn't end here because there are still other analysis and assessments to be done.
"We still have to complete the economic impact analysis so we’re going to get some financial models from the consultants... We’re going to get some recommendations as far as different building programming, which means different kinds of use that we can get to the buildings so things like retail or the supporting program to the facility. We’re also going to get the full assessment of the existing buildings within the site," Quesada said.
The funding for this project comes from the 2012 Quality of Life Bond.
The full study won't be finished until winter of 2023, February at the latest.
After the final recommendations are given, Quesada said that the council will make the final decision on what course is taken.
“This is not a design project, this study is going to conclude recommendations. So that council can take direction.”
The meeting will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of Art in the large conference room on the 1st floor.
Along with the meeting, the city launched an online survey that you can find if you click here.
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