EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Three El Paso city representatives are calling for a proposition on the ballot in November for voters to decide if the city should not proceed with the Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Facility, also known as the Downtown Arena.
City reps Chris Canales, Brian Kennedy and Art Fierro are calling to put that proposition on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Canales put the item on the agenda for city council to discuss for the next city meeting on Tuesday.
Back in 2012, voters approved a $473 million quality of life bond and one of its signature projects, the Downtown Arena.
That gave way to a years-long legal battle over where the arena should be built.
The original location was set for the old Chihuahuaita neighborhood, but that failed after a lawsuit called into question the historical significance of the area.
The most recent location to be considered was the old Union Depot.
The full text of the agenda item reads as follows:
“Discussion and action to direct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance ordering an election on the November 5, 2024 uniform election date to permit voters to determine whether to revoke the City’s authority to issue the 2012 Quality of Life bonds that have not yet been sold or delivered; and to direct the City Manager and City Attorney to undertake all actions necessary to defease and/or redeem all or a portion of the outstanding 2012 Quality of Life bonds issued to fund the Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Facility project.”
Canales feels that the time is right to ask the voters how and if they want the project to proceed.
“Voters have been waiting twelve long years since the passage of the 2012 Quality of Life Bond election for some resolution on the MPC project, and after so much time they should have their voices heard again at the ballot box,” Canales said. “In the more than a decade since the MPC project was first approved, the project has, through a series of high profile headwinds and hang-ups, morphed into something that no longer resembles the initial concept. The reality now, in 2024, is that there is nowhere near the amount of funding required to deliver an ‘arena’. A project of that scale would cost something in the range of $400-$500 million, not the $128 million remaining in unsold bonds.”
All three city representatives agree that given the developments in recent years, the voters should have a new say in the process of determining the future of the project and whether or not it should continue.
“I have consistently opposed spending more money on the Multi-Purpose Center (MPC) than what voters approved in the 2012 election,” Fierro said.
“The voters know best about what they want,“ City. Rep Brian Kennedy added.
If city council approves the agenda item the motion will set to appear on the ballot in November.
Would you vote to revoke the Downtown Arena Project? Vote below:
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