EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The federal government plans to spend up to $700 million on an expansion of the international Bridge of the Americas and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, spoke about it and the impact this expansion would have on the area.
As KTSM has reported, the plan could include the area where the El Paso County Coliseum and the ice rink are currently located.
There are three alternatives that have been presented by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the expansion that have varying impacts on county property where the coliseum and ice rink are located.
“None of the alternatives touch any of the neighborhoods, touch any private property. It only impacts the State of Texas and the County of El Paso as government entities,” Escobar said.
She added that out of the three options presented by GSA, they are leaning toward the option that would leave the coliseum and ice rink standing.
“While nothing is off the table, in my latest conversation with GSA, they have told me that the current preferred alternative is the design that leaves the coliseum intact and also leaves the ice rink intact,” Escobar said.
The ice rink on the property is home to the El Paso Rhinos hockey team. The hockey team and the El Paso figure skating club had expressed their concerns over the possibility of the rink being impacted by the project.
The vice president of the team sent a statement following Escobar’s statements.
“Although we haven’t been informed of which proposal GSA is leaning toward, all three proposals negatively impact our rink. We have not been given any new information since attending the public presentation on April 4. We welcome the opportunity to meet with GSA,” said Tyler Deloach, vice president of the El Paso Rhinos.
The three alternative designs are on the GSA website.
One of the options shows the land use for the expansion in red and the graphic shows the El Paso County Coliseum and the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center, which is the ice rink, not in red. The areas that are in red would be included in the project.
The third alternative shows both the coliseum and the ice rink in red.
