Demolition means real work begins on El Paso's new baseball stadium

Click photo to enlarge

Debris flies from the former City Hall building as the charges are detonated Sunday.

As the 10-story, 34-year-old former City Hall building came crumbling down Sunday morning, a guest watching the implosion at the DoubleTree Hotel just blocks away shouted, "Play Ball!"

The demolition marked a time of change, where El Paso's Downtown skyline will no longer be defined by a concrete and glass government structure but a Triple-A baseball stadium that city officials hope will invigorate economic development.

The Tucson Padres, an affiliate with Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, are expected to play in El Paso in April 2014. The minor league team was bought by MountainStar Sports Group, a team of local investors.

Many who watched the implosion wipe away a long-standing building said they felt

"It's sad because there are so many great memories in that building and you just remember driving up Interstate 10 and seeing City Hall and thinking, "This is El Paso,'" said Jim Scherr, who owns the DoubleTree Hotel Downtown and was once on the City Council. "But I think at the end of the day, this is progress and hopefully will make El Paso better."

City Hall stood right where home plate will be, and from where ballpark visitors will be able to see the Franklin Mountains. The symbolism was not lost on the city's Ballpark Project Engineer Alan Shubert, who called the demolition a new beginning and a milestone.

The construction of the ballpark will take 11 months, and work has already begun. Just to the north of the 1,000 truckloads worth of debris, the base of the outfield retaining wall can be easily seen.

Much of the electric line work is already completed.

View original post here:
Demolition means real work begins on El Paso's new baseball stadium