Lincoln Center demolition delayed for six months under new agreement

Workers remove equipment from the Lincoln Center as protesters jeer after a restraining order was issued delaying demolition work. (Photos by RUBEN R. RAMIREZ EL PASO TIMES)

Read letter from TxDOT to Mayor Leeser

AUSTIN >> El Paso and the Texas Department of Transportation appear to have reached a deal, sparing historic Lincoln Center from the wrecking ball for six more months.

In a letter to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser on Friday, TxDOT Executive Director J.F. Weber agrees to delay demolition until October if the city will agree to withdraw its lawsuit against the agency. The suit already has resulted in a temporary-restraining order against the state.

Lincoln Center was built in the early 20th century as a school for minority students. TxDOT has owned the building since 1969 and it has been vacant since 2006.

Earlier this month, the state agency announced plans to demolish the building and said it is unsafe partly because it is situated beneath a tangle of highways east of Downtown that is known as the Spaghetti Bowl. TxDOT is planning to add interchanges that might be built where Lincoln Center is located.

State Rep. Joe Pickett and state Sen. Jos Rodrguez, both El Paso Democrats, complained they got mixed messages from TxDOT about the agency's plans for Lincoln Center.

"I think there clearly was a breach of the agreement we had with TxDOT," Rodrguez said Friday.

The lawmakers called on the agency to delay demolition and reach out to local governments to see if any had plans and money to refurbish and use the building.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted 5-0 in a special meeting to seek a temporary restraining order to halt demolition of Lincoln Center, 4001 Durazno. On Wednesday, the city obtained the restraining order to stop the demolition, which TxDOT said it planned to start at the end of the month.

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Lincoln Center demolition delayed for six months under new agreement