EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday, April 9 to purchase Bonham Elementary School from the El Paso Independent School District.
The City of El Paso will repurpose the 13-acre site for the El Paso Police Department’s new Central Regional Command Center. According to the Capital Improvement Department, the project will be funded by the voter-approved 2019 Public Safety Bond. The land will cost $4.76 million with the total project budget estimated to run $24.6 million.
Bonham Elementary, 7024 Cielo Vista Dr., shut its doors and consolidated with MacArthur in 2021 due to a decline in enrollment. In March, the El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to sell the vacant properties.
“There were a couple of properties that we did evaluate, and we did a side by side, really looking at criteria — what meets the needs for our PD and also really, how do we make sure that it’s a centrally located facility,” said City Engineer Yvette Hernandez.
The current Central Regional Command Center is located in Downtown by the County Courthouse and is faced with the problems of limited space for departments and units.
Police Chief Peter Pacillas said: “We’ve outgrown it. It’s small. We have both our patrol officers, we have our bike officers stationed someplace else and our detectives all trying to work out of a small station.”
The new Command Center is expected to house various departments, including a roll call/report area, detective, tactical and sergeant areas and a gymnasium with lockers.
Pacillas said the Downtown facility will still be used by metro bicycle officers.
With Council’s approval, Hernandez said CID can now move forward in the design process. Procurement is anticipated to happen early next year.
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