City Attorney Says San Jacinto Plaza Construction Nearing Completion

It's taken way longer than anticipated, but renovation of the San Jacinto Plaza is nearing completion and the park could be ready to reopen this fall.

Issues relating to the 40-ton shade canopy that will cover the "Los Lagartos" sculpture has held work up for a few months now, but according to City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth the matter in question has been taken care of and installation of the canopy is imminent.

Firth told a local television station that the contractor has been waiting on a cable she described as "specifically engineered for this project" to be manufactured and shipped from Germany. She said the cable, which will be used to hoist and suspend the canopy, is on its way, and once it gets here, the contractor can begin the process of lifting it onto the concrete slabs that will support the structure.

Once it's in place, the recently restored alligator statue will be installed, and work on the landscaping and amenities can be finished up.

As far as a completion date for the project, city spokesman Martin Bartlett would only commit to sometime this fall, adding the plaza will not be open until all the terms of the contract have been satisfied by the contractor, Basic IDIQ.

Per the El Paso Times, their work on the project was supposed to have been finished by February of this year. The city has been fining them $1000 a day since May 4.