plans for el paso water park moving forward with land purchase

A project that could see the construction of a multi-purpose water park in El Paso may end up being built on a portion of a site belonging to a middle school.

That site, at 6101 Hughey Drive in central El Paso, is the home to the Ross Middle School, one of the more than fifty elementary schools belonging to the El Paso Independent School District.

Because students from that school are being sent to the nearby Hughey Elementary School as part of a district-wide consolidation initiative, the site is open for other uses.

EPISD officials have indicated that they are open to selling a 5-acre portion of the site for around $540,000.

The water park itself is expected to cost up to $7 million to build, with most of the funding for the project coming out of the Quality of Life bond approved by El Paso voters in 2012.

Initial reports indicate that the park will include water slides, lazy rivers, lap pools, and climbing walls.

City officials have said that they’d like to see the water park completed in time for the 2020 summer season.

By Garry Boulard

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