More than a year after scrapping the site for the controversial Downtown arena project, the City Council is poised to choose an area around the Union Depot as the alternative choice. The plans would leave the historic train depot in place and redevelop the surrounding area.
City Council Tuesday will vote whether to approve the Union Depot area of Downtown El Paso for the $180 million multipurpose cultural and performing arts center – the last signature bond project approved by voters in 2012 that has yet to get underway.
The Union Depot property on San Francisco Avenue – just west of the ballpark and adjacent to West Paisano Drive – serves as the Amtrak Train Station and a bus maintenance hub used by Greyhound and El Paso County. There are no homes or apartments in the proposed area.
“The proposal is for construction of the project on the land next to the Union Depot that is currently an old bus maintenance facility. The proposal is not for a giant arena but for a much smaller hybrid venue with capacity for 4,000 indoors and 4,000 outdoors, taking advantage of El Paso’s 300-plus days per year of sunny weather,” said city Rep. Chris Canales, whose district includes the Union Depot area. “This, in my opinion, is much more like the ‘Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Facility’ that the voters approved than a huge arena would have been.”
Canales stressed that the Union Depot building itself would continue in its current role as a train station.
“The amazing Union Depot building is both on the historic register and obligated to remain a train station because of past investment by the Federal Transit Administration, so I want to be completely clear: There is zero chance at all of it being demolished,” he said. “That is not what this proposal calls for in any way. The Union Depot will absolutely remain standing tall and continue to be preserved, serving El Pasoans and Amtrak riders as a beautiful, historic train station.”
The site is blocks away from the Duranguito neighborhood where the city initially planned to build the arena project.
The agenda summary states that if the item is approved, the city manager will hire consultants for additional conceptual development of the design and develop a community engagement process as well as conduct an archeological survey of the site as part of the next steps in the process.
The proposal to be reviewed by the City Council on Tuesday calls for continuation of the city’s contract with Amtrak, which provides train service several days a week from the depot. The proposal says the city “may” continue a contract with Texas Tech University, whose El Paso architecture school is housed in Union Depot.
The city this week sought a $50,000 grant from the Texas Historical Trust Fund to restore and repair 16 windows in the depot’s rotunda, as well as 116 office windows in the building.
In January 2023, the city abruptly voted to scrap the controversial Duranguito neighborhood located in the Union Plaza area of Downtown El Paso that had been stalled by years of litigation.
El Paso Matters reported in October that city staff were considering Sun Metro properties, including the Union Depot, as possible alternatives for the embattled project.
The council in December voted to ease the architectural design and building guidelines for future development of the Union Plaza area that includes the Union Depot.
The city has about $153 million remaining in its budget for the Downtown arena.
Feb. 8, 10:25 p.m. This story has been updated to include comments from city Rep. Chris Canales.
