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Statement of the Department of History:
University of Texas at El Paso
on Plans for Revitalization of Downtown El Paso
and Segundo Barrio
Dear El Paso City Council:
The faculty, staff and students of the Department of History at the University of Texas at El Paso are concerned about the plan proposed by the Paso Del Norte Group to “revitalize” downtown El Paso. While we do not oppose all forms of development, we are worried about the impact of the plan on the architecture, community, and people of downtown El Paso and Segundo Barrio.
We are concerned about the plan for three reasons. First, we believe that the people of Segundo Barrio and Chihuahuita have not been adequately informed of the plans. Any large scale development effort should go through an extensive public and well-advertised process. The people most impacted should have a democratic chance to ask questions and voice their feelings. We believe such a process has not occurred, especially in the two impacted communities. The area slated for demolition has been home to generations of people who have made El Paso one of the most culturally rich cities in America. They have a right to voice their opinions on the plan.
Second, these buildings constitute an important cultural and historical resource for the city of El Paso. For more than a century, the area has contributed to the unique bi-national and bi-cultural characteristics of one of the most interesting cities in the country. For instance, the plan may destroy the Pablo Baray Apartments, where the first novel of the Mexican Revolution was written in 1915 by Mariano Azuela. The Krakauer Building, built in 1921 by a prominent Jewish family and today houses the El Paso Children’s Day Care Center is targeted. Other buildings that reflect the African-American, Chinese, and Anglo heritage of the area will also be severely impacted or razed.
Third, we are concerned about the lack of communication between the promoters of the plan and people who know the history of the area. The departments of History, Anthropology/Sociology and Political Science, as well as The Center for Civic Engagement and the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies at UTEP, contain experts in fields that could help devise culturally and historically sensitive procedures and goals. Community historians and prominent individuals throughout Segundo Barrio and Chihuahuita also have a wealth of local knowledge about the area. To our knowledge, none of these entities or individuals have been contacted by the Paso Del Norte Group. Members of the History Department would gladly sit down with the City Council to discuss the historical resources we have in the southern sections of downtown El Paso.
We agree that there are serious problems in El Paso related to infrastructure and economics. But, fair and sensitive solutions to those problems are best found in strategies that incorporate all of the resources in the region. The revitalization plan has been framed primarily as one of development and economy, but we feel that the human, cultural, and historical dimensions of the equation deserve greater attention. Historical preservation and economic growth can be mutually viable dimensions of El Paso’s plans for the area only if we have a full discussion of a project that will transform Segundo Barrio, downtown El Paso, and the city as a whole.
The Department of History urges the Paso Del Norte Group and the City Council of El Paso to honestly and seriously consider the three main concerns listed above.
Read by Selfa Chew before the El Paso City Council on behalf of the Department of History at the University of Texas at El Paso on May 23, 2006.
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