Vinton moving ahead with plans to clean up land, turn it into park

EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) — The Village of Vinton is moving forward with a project to clean up and remediate more than 11 acres of contaminated land and turn it into a community park, the Village said in a news release.

The land, located at 475 Vinton Road, would be cleaned up using a $2 million “Brownfields” cleanup grant that the Village received from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency in 2023.

So far, project activities have consisted of the completion of background grant administration documents, planning, and award of the Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) team to oversee project activities, the Village said.

This month, the Village of Vinton will host a public meeting on the project at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Vinton City Hall, 436 E. Vinton Road.

The public meeting will consist of a brief educational presentation describing the site and the Brownfields Cleanup Project, which will then be opened to comments and questions from any meeting attendees.

The Village has envisioned development and use of the site as a community park since the contaminated property was acquired in 1992, the Village said.

Plans for the park were updated in 2017 to include a 25,000-square-foot community/multi-purpose center to be constructed at the south end of the site and a concession stand to serve two proposed softball fields, the Village said.

The Village has not said what previously was on that land in any of its releases to the media about the project.

Walking trails within the park will serve as the starting point for a planned network of trails connecting the site to Vinton neighborhoods and schools providing “a safer off-road means for grade school children to walk to Bill Childress Elementary School, and a recreational trail serving all residents,” the Village said.

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