The El Paso Walmart Supercenter that was the site of a tragic shooting resulting in the death of twenty-two people, with another twenty-five wounded, is expected to re-open later this year.
But company officials say that the store, located at 7101 Gateway Boulevard near the Cielo Vista Mall, will first be renovated.
Included in the facility work will be the building of a mass shooting memorial, although what exactly that memorial will entail has not yet been disclosed by the company.
What is known is that the store’s interior is slated for an overall upgrade with new flooring and a reconfiguration of space.
“We’ve made the decision to remodel the entire facility,” Randy Hargrove, a Walmart spokesman, told the New York Post.
Plans for the exact look, dimension, and feel of the memorial will be largely determined by the input of people living in El Paso.
It is not yet known how much the renovation and memorial will cost. But Walmart officials believe that work on the facility will begin in September.
The roughly 180,000 square foot Gateway Boulevard Walmart was opened more than two decades ago. It is one of nearly a dozen locations of varying sizes the store has in metro El Paso.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart company announced the establishment of a $400,000 fund to help those in El Paso who were impacted by the tragedy.
By Garry Boulard
