This came in from Helen Marshall yesterday. I think that she is spot on.
Rep. Robinson is quoted in an EPT story about Cohen Stadium as saying that “Unfortunately the Diablos chose to move the franchise out of El Paso.” He also notes that events should be held there. “It is accessible from all parts of the town with US 54 and the completion of Loop 375.”
Am I on some other planet? I thought that the city told the Diablos they could not continue to play baseball in a city facility once the Barking Park was completed, and no one in the city wanted to use Cohen Stadium in any form because it was Not Downtown. What am I missing here?
Will the water park the city wants to build out there be filled with drinking quality water or treated effluent? Maybe it can be encircled with cotton farms so EP can show the world there are no water problems out here in the desert!
Cheers!
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
I already questioned that statement from Robinson this morning, on the EPT web site. And, I also asked why the City used Cohen’s location as an excuse for why they needed the new ball park downtown. Also, fwiw, way back when I pointed out that my hometown, Tacoma, Washington, has long been in this particular AAA league, with a ballpark located as far from downtown as is Cohen, and no complaints there about its location.
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Just so you know the PCL said it was impossible to bring Cohen stadium up to AAA standards.
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i never heard that statement U. all i heard was foster saying “that they said cohen wasnt acceptable. he never went further to say in its current condition. he never went on to ask them what about if we tear it down and start from scratch or remodel it. he never wanted it there. he demanded it be downtown. albuquerque remodeled their older stadium where the isotopes play now.
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The PCL never demanded the ballpark be downtown. That was all Foster/Hunt spin. The PCL commissioner actually made fun of El Paso for destroying city hall to build the park downtown.
Here is the opening of the article:
“Even the president of the league can’t help but laugh about it, the optics of it all. Branch Rickey chuckles when I reach him at his office outside Austin, Texas, where he runs Triple-A baseball’s Pacific Coast League. That there was a city so eager to join the PCL, a city so sold on the idea that baseball — minor league baseball, at that — is the magic ingredient that will finally lift it into the big leagues. … A city so hopeful and optimistic that its leaders were willing to actually, well … There goes Rickey again, giggling.
“I can’t get over the symbolism,” Rickey tells me, pausing for a moment to compose himself. “This is so much fun. You will enjoy this — that in order to build a baseball stadium, they imploded another building. And not just any building. They imploded their own city hall.”
Full story at http://grantland.com/features/el-paso-chihuahuas-triple-a-minor-league-baseball-mlb-san-diego-padres-stadium-public-funding/
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And now the Times editorializes using the same argument – oh Cohen Stadium is perfectly located, it will be a fine addition to our entertainment venues! Let them pay for its remodeling!
Meantime I was recently informed by “progressive” friends that the City Hall we tore down was really an ugly building and it was a good thing to get rid of it. Nothing bad or wrong ever done by the Wilson Wrecking Crew. I am still surprised, however, that Robinson has forgotten what happened, as I believe he was opposed to the Barking Park at the outset because it meant the loss of the one major attraction in his district.
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