A Waterpark Could Be Coming To Northeast El Paso

Part of the fight over the recently passed Quality of Life bonds centered on Cohen Stadium and the Tiguas.

Some El Pasoans thought Cohen should have been renovated or torn down, and the new Triple A ballpark built on the northeast site.

That isn't going to happen, but something big might be coming to the Cohen Stadium site soon.

El Paso Mayor John Cook and other city officials announced yesterday that a water adventure park could be heading to the current site of Cohen Stadium.

A private company has approached the city with a proposal to build the water park in the Northeast El Paso site.  City Manager Joyce Wilson said the water park could co-exist with the stadium because the land is big enough to fit both.  Wilson and Cook said the company has asked that it's name not be disclosed yet because it is still looking at other cities.

They went on to say that the company wants to put together a public/private partnership and it involves the city having a significant financial stake in it and so city officials need to do their due diligence before making a decision.
Cook said El Paso was "number one on the list" for the national firm, and that it has other water parks throughout the state.

Wilson has set up a team to visit the company's other water parks in the state to evaluate how other cities formulated the partnership with the private entity.  The city is also considering asking El Paso Community College about transforming Cohen Stadium into a high quality amateur baseball complex for school and college teams to use.

Meanwhile, the Tiguas approached the City about their lease on Cohen.

The Tribe owes the city about 70 thousand dollars in stadium utility costs, but Cook said the tribe has made some improvements to the stadium that could change the amount they owe the city.

Wilson said they told the Tiguas that they will look at the lease with the tribe and work make it beneficial for both the Tiguas and the City.

She said the City doesn't want to do anything that could economically hurt the Diablos or the Tiguas.