
El Paso Loses Federal Grant for Deck Plaza
The plans for a “deck plaza” in or near downtown El Paso have hit a snag. A $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which had been counted upon, did not materialize. This leaves the future of the deck plaza in doubt, but the project is not completely derailed yet.
For one thing, the 5.5 million is only a drop in the bucket of the total cost of the project. The TOTAL cost for the deck plaza is at least $200 million. Backers, such as the Paso del Norte Community Foundation are vowing to push the project forward even without the grant.
The federal grant would have helped pay for construction blueprints. Yes, it’s going to be over 5 million dollars just for the BLUEPRINTS for a deck plaza.
El Paso Matters reports that all eight of the El Paso City Council members have said they wouldn’t support using taxpayer dollars to pay for the deck plaza.

City Manager Dionne Mack has also said she doesn’t favor using tax dollars while there are so many street and infrastructure improvements that are needed.
Tracy Yellen is the CEO of the Paso del Norte Foundation. She says other means of raising the money will be explored, including other grants and fundraising from private donors.
Phoenix and Dallas are two cities in the southwest that already have deck plazas. In El Paso, the project would see the sunken parts of I-10 near downtown covered over to create community spaces, dog parks, and event venues.
The D.O.T. is already planning a major renovation of that area of I-10 and deck plaza backers are hoping to be able to begin construction as the highway renovation is going on.
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