A battle between community activists and the City of El Paso regarding where a proposed multicultural performing arts center should be built has been protracted, having started when the project was first announced in the fall of 2016.
But now an El Paso publication has documented that the battle has also been expensive, contending that to date the city has had to pay $3.3 million in legal fees.
“The costs will continue to climb as litigation continues,” reports El Paso Matters in documenting the various lawyers’ fees surrounding the battle.
And because the matter, in terms of a final determination regarding where the area will at last be built, is ongoing, the legal fees are expected to continue. “There is no cap on the legal costs,” notes the publication.
It was originally determined by the city that the new $180 million arena would be built where the Duranguito neighborhood currently stands. But preservationists, resident, and others filed a series of suits to stop the project, arguing that the section of the city in question dates to the mid-19th century and for historic reasons should be saved.
Although city officials earlier this year said they would entertain proposals to have the arena built at another site, no such determination has yet been made.
By Garry Boulard
