A DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PLAN THAT WILL SUCCEED
by Enrique N. Medrano
A SPORTS ARENA WILL NOT revitalize downtown El Paso.
El Paso's history will revitalize downtown to a degree
that would amaze most El Pasoans.
What El Paso does not need downtown is a sports arena
that will bring El Paso, Juarez, and local area residents
downtown for the sole purpose of watching an arena event.
Most of the time the arena will be empty, like the County
Coliseum, the Don Haskins Arena, the Sun Bowl, and Cohen
Stadium. Construction of the sports arena at the proposed
site south of the Civic Center would require the elimination
of one of the last two residential areas remaining of
what in 1859 was the Town of El Paso, as surveyed by
Anson Mills. This is too high a cost for a building
that will do little to draw money into downtown El Paso.
What El Paso does need downtown are attractions that
will bring in tourists from all over the world, all
year round, staying in downtown hotels, and patronizing
downtown restaurants, night clubs, art galleries, gift
shops, clothing stores, and other retail establishments.
Those tourist dollars, euros, pesos, yen, and other
forms of tourist money will revitalize downtown.
All El Paso has to do is develop those attractions
in the downtown area. Develop what is already there.
Develop what belongs only to El Paso and cannot be found
anywhere else in the world except El Paso. Develop what
will attract those tourists from around the world: HISTORY
MUSEUMS AT THE LOCATIONS WHERE THAT HISTORY WAS MADE.
Yes, El Paso is building its history museum downtown.
But just as Las Vegas did not become a tourist Mecca
on the basis of one casino, El Paso cannot realize its
full tourism potential on the basis of one history museum.
There is way too much rich history in El Paso for one
history museum.
THE HISTORY MUSEUM being constructed at Cleveland Square
should focus on the following phases of this area's
history: 1) The indigenous peoples who populated the
area before their colonization by the Spanish - the
Manso, the Suma, and the Jumano; 2) The explorations
and colonization of the area by the Spanish; 3) The
establishment of the Camino Real through this area linking
Mexico with Northern New Mexico; 4) The founding of
the Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe and the settlement
of Paso Del Norte in what is now downtown Ciudad Juarez;
5) The flight of the Spanish, along with Tigua and Piro
Indians, from the Pueblo Revolt in Northern New Mexico,
leading to the establishment of the Missions at San
Lorenzo, Senecu, Ysleta, and Socorro; 6) The history
of the Paso del Norte area during the 1700's and the
first half of the 1800's, including the establishment
of the Spanish presidio, or fort, at San Elizario; 7)
The conflicts with the Apache; 8) The taking of Paso
del Norte by Colonel Alexander Doniphan's unit in 1846
during the Mexican American War; 9) The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo under which Mexico ceded most of what is now
the Western United States, including West Texas and
New Mexico; 10) The Gadsden Purchase; 11) The Butterfield
stage coach trail through El Paso; 12) The retreat of
the Confederate forces out of El Paso in April 1862
during the Civil War, leading to Union control; 13)
The history of Fort Bliss in the downtown and Concordia
area, with prominent mention of the Buffalo Soldiers;
14) The history of the City of El Paso, beginning with
Ponce's Rancho and continuing with the critical arrival
of the railroads and consequent establishment of El
Paso as one of the most important transportation centers
in the Southwestern United States prior to the development
of automobile and air transportation; and 15) Other
important historical events in El Paso not covered by
the specific focus history museums detailed in the following
paragraphs.
THE OLD EL PASO MUSEUM. The building at the Southeast
corner of El Paso and San Antonio Streets, known as
the Wells Fargo Building in the 1890's, had a very well
known tenant in 1895 - John Wesley Hardin, Attorney
at Law. Hardin, of course, was and is better known as
an outlaw. El Paso had more than its share of gunfighters
and outlaws during the latter half of the 1800's. A
museum of El Paso's outlaws, and of the lawmen who pursued
them and captured or shot them, would be a great tourist
attraction. There is no better location for this museum
than the old Wells Fargo Building and the Union Trust
building next door. There remains a world wide interest
in the Wild West. Tourists would come from all over
the world to step into John Wesley Hardin's law office.
That space on the second floor of the old Wells Fargo
Building, which is now probably empty or used for storage
by the current retail tenant, could be worth millions
in annual tourist revenue to El Paso's downtown businesses.
Gunfight reenactments could be staged daily outside
this Museum. The story of El Paso's efforts to rid itself
of the outlaw, gambling, and brothel elements could
be told in this Museum.
THE MUSEUM OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION (EL MUSEO DE LA
REVOLUCION MEXICANA). El Paso had a very significant
role throughout the period of the Mexican Revolution.
The crucial battle won by Francisco Madero's revolutionaries,
led by General Pascual Orozco, Colonel Pancho Villa
and Colonel Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian soldier of
fortune, took place in Ciudad Juarez in May, 1911. Immediately
after the capture of Ciudad Juarez by the revolutionaries,
the Dictator Porfirio Diaz resigned and was exiled from
Mexico. A Mexican Revolutionary Junta organized by Abraham
Gonzalez operated from fifth floor offices in the Caples
Building at the Southeast corner of Mesa and San Antonio
Streets. Dr. Ira Bush, serving as head of the medical
corps for Madero's revolutionary forces, also set up
his offices on the fifth floor of the Caples Building.
No doubt, these offices, and the roof above them, provided
excellent opportunities for surviellance of Porfirio
Diaz's forces in Ciudad Juarez prior to the attack by
the revolutionary forces. The Mexican Revolution was
actually a series of violent upheavals that took place
mainly between 1910 and 1920, followed by a two decades
of great turmoil between the different segments of Mexican
society. Pancho Villa became a frequent visitor to El
Paso during the most violent period of the Revolution.
Evergreen Cemetery on Alameda Street is the final resting
place of Victoriano Huerta, who assumed the Presidency
of Mexico after taking Francisco Madero prisoner and
putting him before the firing squad in February, 1913.
All of these events impacted El Paso in many ways. This
remarkable story is best told in a museum setting. The
Caples Building is an ideal site for a museum on the
Mexican Revolution. Millions of Mexicans will be commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Mexican
Revolution in less than 7 years. How many thousands
of tourists from Mexico and throughout the world would
take advantage of the opportunity to step into the offices
in the Caples Building utilized by the Revolutionary
Junta to plan the beginning of the Mexican Revolution?
How many millions of dollars would those tourists bring
into downtown El Paso? Will El Paso be ready?
THE 1966 MINERS MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
MUSEUM. Sports museums are big tourist draws. What better
place for this museum than Memorial Gym, the site of
that beloved team's undefeated home stand during that
championship season? The story of that championship
season and the extreme social importance of the victory
by Coach Don Haskins' black players over the white-only
Kentucky team in the championship game will soon be
on movie screens all over the country and throughout
the world. Within the year after the movie's run in
theaters, it will be released on VCR and DVD. After
that it will be seen on network and cable television.
Hopefully, the movie will garnish numerous awards. Wouldn't
those billions of viewers throughout the world appreciate
the opportunity to step into the same gym in which that
great championship team played? Fortunately, memorabilia
of that championship team and season exists to fill
this museum. Texas Western College occupies a respectable
place in the history of the elimination of racial barriers
in higher education. The stories of Thelma White, the
first black woman admitted to a Texas public college
in 1955, and of Charlie Brown, the first black athlete
to participate in intercollegiate athletics in the South,
could also be told in this museum. Will El Paso be ready?
THE RAILROAD HISTORY MUSEUM in downtown El Paso, if
fully developed to showcase El Paso's two steam locomotives
and passenger railroad cars, would also be a great tourist
draw. There are thousands of rail fans traveling throughout
the country each year to museum sites featuring railroad
locomotives and railroad cars of days gone by. The old
freight depot next to the Franklin Street downtown onramp
to Interstate 10 East is an ideal location for this
museum.
THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM, which will be built downtown
northwest of Cleveland Square, will draw thousands of
visitors every month, as another important component
of El Paso's tourist magnet museums.
The buildings and storefronts between the sites of
these museums in downtown El Paso will soon find thousands
of money-bearing tourists walking by their doors. These
tourists will not be interested in many of the retail
establishments that now occupy downtown El Paso. They
will patronize businesses in the Union Fashion and Café
Central genre. Soon, fine restaurants and cafes, night
clubs, top of the line clothing and shoe shops, theaters,
art galleries, gift shops, and similar businesses will
be able to conduct business downtown because of the
constant flow of tourists. Hotels will reopen downtown
to handle the demand for hotel accommodations. Drawing
and scheduling conventions bringing thousands of conventioneers
every month to the Judson Williams Convention Center
will become easier. Downtown El Paso will become a desirable
place to live. The Union Plaza district, with its trolley
terminal, can become a moderate to high rent residential
area for downtown workers. Perhaps, empty warehouse
buildings in the Union Plaza District could be converted
into trendy rental units or art studios. An ideal location
for a Spaghetti Warehouse would be in the area close
to the Union Depot.
Sales tax revenues, rental car tax revenues, hotel
occupancy tax revenues, and downtown property tax revenues
will greatly increase. Employees of downtown businesses
catering to the tourist industry will be well paid.
The City of El Paso should invest 80 to 100 million
dollars or more in downtown El Paso, but not on a sports
arena. Invest the money in showcasing El Paso's past,
in order to build El Paso's future. The investment will
soon be recovered.
The sports arena should be built next to Cohen Stadium,
the location recommended by the City's sports arena
study. The City already owns the property, therefor
it can be built without taking property off the tax
rolls and without the long delays and expense of property
acquisition through the eminent domain process. Construction
can begin immediately. There is plenty of parking space.
Cohen is easily accessible from all areas of El Paso,
Cd. Juarez, and Southern New Mexico because of its proximity
to the Patriot Freeway, Loop 375, and Transmountain
Road. The City will also have better leverage in contracting
with private parties to operate the sports arena and
in awarding concession rights.
El Paso's downtown history museums will also provide
a tourist base for other downtown attractions such as
the Plaza Theater and the Art Museum. UTEP's Centennial
Museum, UTEP's Paso al Norte Immigration Museum, the
Archeology Museum, the Border Patrol Museum, the Fort
Bliss Museum, Fred Morales' El Paso/Juarez History Museum,
the Missions in the Lower Valley, the Natural History
Museum, the Chamizal Monument, the Magoffin Home, the
Karl Wyler Aerial Tramway, Indian Cliffs Ranch, Viva
El Paso, and other local attractions will also experience
a great increase in tourist traffic and tourist income.
The community commitment to invest in local history
as the basis for El Paso's tourism industry also has
a personal aspect. El Pasoans need to know their local
history. This knowledge leads to great appreciation
for what we have and a desire to preserve and promote
our rich local history. Each of our school districts
should require that all students learn our local history
as part of their social studies course work.
Enrique Medrano is an attorney, historian and member
of the Paso Del Sur group. He can be reached at EnrMedrano@aol.com.
The above article was first pulished in 2004.
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