El Paso officials are proceeding with plans to demolish Cohen Stadium, and will redevelop the site of the former home of the El Paso Diablos.
Cohen Stadium has gone largely unused in recent years, and the presence of Southwest University Park in the city’s downtown–home of the El Paso Chihuahuas (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League)–has effectively rendered it obsolete for professional baseball. A multi-phase, large-scale redevelopment concept for the site is taking shape, as the ballpark will be torn to make way for an entertainment district that is expected to include a water park, public plaza, restaurants, and more.
As planning for that project moves forward, city officials voted last week to award the Cohen Stadium demolition contract to JMR Demolition and are hoping that the redevelopment will lead to greater community use of the site. More from KVIA:
El Paso’s City Council has approved the budget to demolish Cohen Stadium and make room for the ballpark’s transformation into an entertainment district in the northeast.
City leaders have said that they’re trying to take an area that no longer serves the public and build it up into a vibrant social center for generations to come.
Cohen Stadium was once well known as the home of the El Paso Diablos but has been virtually abandoned since the opening of Southwest University Park in 2014.
Opening in 1990, Cohen Stadium hosted multiple incarnations of the Diablos. An affiliated minor league version of the Diablos (Class AA; Texas League) played at the ballpark from its opening through the 2004 season, before relocating to Springfield, MO to become the Springfield Cardinals. An independent league club immediately followed and assumed the Diablos name, remaining there through the 2013 season.
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