There has been a lot of reporting about the Durangito neighborhood in recent months. The City wants to put the downtown arena on top of the neighborhood and demolish a number of historic buildings. The Durangito may not be the most picturesque area of town, but it deserves to be saved because it holds so much of El Paso history. There are other areas of downtown that could be used for the downtown arena, there is no need to demolish these amazing examples of early El Paso history.

The El Paso History Alliance would like to get the Durangito neighborhood official historic status. They are working on a petition drive and need your help in getting it accomplished.

From their Facebook page:

"We wish to see implemented the recommendations of the 1998 City of El Paso survey, which includes creating a historic district within the boundaries of Union Plaza. The H-overlay district will recognize and commemorate the history, culture and people of the historic barrio. Our petition drive will be co-organized by the El Paso History Alliance, Paso del Sur, and Save the Union Plaza Neighborhood in tandem with our friends and allies from throughout the community. It is our hope that once the City has verified the signatures on the petition that the City Council will enact the proposed ordinance. If not, the City Charter provides us with a path to place the ordinance on the ballot of the next general election specified in State law."

If you would like to sign the petition or help in any other way, contact The El Paso History Alliance. We do need to protect our historic areas all over El Paso.

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