County Commissioners on Monday debated the possibility of using a large chunk of land currently occupied by Ascarate Park to house a proposed multi-purpose youth facility and eventually voted to begin soliciting requests from architects for the project.

In a 4 – 1 vote, the court approved sending out a Request For Qualifications, or RFQ, to architects and designers interested in building the structure to be located adjacent to the current Juvenile Probation Department, or JPD, campus, which abuts the Ascarate Golf Course. Commission Miguel Teran cast the single nay vote.

The project is being spearheaded by the Border Children’s Mental Health Collaborative, or BCMHC, which wants to build a facility to provide mental health services to area you. The facility would include beds, treatment centers and offices associated with mental care. The organization also hoped to benefit from the proposed locations

The 11.69-square-acre portion of Ascarate Park land is allowed for governmental use, according to a 1976 Commissioners’ Court order that states the section of land can be used “for public purposes other than those permitted in the Deed from the United Sates to the County” (of El Paso), which in 1935 gave the tract of land from the U.S. government to the county.

Commissioner Veronica Escobar initially supported the proposal as it called for a smaller portion of land, but she said she would oppose the plan if it required the full 11.69 acres as she believes it would consume too much of Ascarate Golf Course.

“That’s a huge amount of property,” she said. “If it’s going to be the entire block, I could not [support it]. It would be eating into a tremendous asset that we have.”

The current proposed location is an alternative to a proposal to purchase 10 acres of land across Delta for $2 million, a plan which County Judge Anthony Cobos opposed because he felt spending millions of dollars of tax money on land would not be prudent when there was land already available to the county near the JPD complex.

“We need more space,” Cobos said. “This is for our kids. We can reconfigure the golf course,” he added. The Ascarate Golf Course currently hosts both an 18-hole and a 9-hole course.

In his opposition to the motion, which was the second after a prior failed voted of 2 – 3 with Commissioners Teran, Escobar and Luis Sarinana voting nay, Teran said he would like the RFQ to contain strict guidelines as to what the county would like to see produced by submitted architects and designers.

Teran also requested the county to send out two separate RFQs – one for the design of the BCMHC and another for the redesign of the golf course – but the approved motion only called for one request.

“Architects are very creative. They’re going to put a flower on every corner,” he said.

After the vote, Oscar Reyes, Deputy Chief with the JPD, said he was happy with the vote. He also said he believed sending out only one RFQ would be cost effective and there would an opportunity reconfigure the golf course in a “win-win situation.”

Roger Martinez with the BCMHC said he also was pleased with the court’s action, adding that he believed the decision was in the best interest of all constituencies, such as the children needing mental health care, county taxpayers who are footing the bill and Ascarate golfers.

He said placing the facility near Ascarate would be beneficial to the collaborative and it’s patients.

“The whole focus on that area was because of the recreation opportunities available to the kids and families,” he said.

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