El Paso’s newest park a public-private achievement

Community News

El Paso, Texas, Foundation
MPC employee volunteers laid 10,000 square feet of grass sod along with planting seven trees and 40 shrubs.  
  • The city of El Paso, Texas, has honored a former community volunteer by collaborating with the private sector to complete a new city park named after her.
  • When a financial challenge stalled the project, Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) El Paso refinery stepped in with funding and volunteer assistance to finish the work.
  • MPC invested more than $200,000 in contractor labor, materials and equipment in addition to employee volunteers planting trees and shrubs and laying 10,000 square feet of grass sod.

The city of El Paso, Texas, has honored a former resident known for her community volunteer work with the completion of a park named after her. A recent ceremony marked the end of a two-year public-private collaboration to finish development of Marina Rios Park in the San Juan neighborhood.

MPC Maintenance Department Manager Brandon Bielamowicz (left) and his team, including  Maintenance Supervisor Roger Rivera (right), led the employee volunteer efforts to help finish the park.

“We learned the city completed 50% of the project but did not have the budget to complete the remaining portion,” said Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) Principal ESG & Stakeholder Engagement Representative V.J. Smith. “We worked through an agreement for our El Paso refinery to fund and finish the remaining 50%.”

"A project like this will have a lasting impact on this neighborhood because it’s an asset that residents can enjoy for many years to come.”

 

The refinery did much more than provide financial support. Employee volunteers served as a landscaping crew by planting seven trees and 40 shrubs along with laying 10,000 square feet of grass sod.

 Volunteer assistance from employees of MPC’s El Paso refinery added to more than $200,000 in contractor labor, materials and equipment the refinery contributed as part of an agreement with the city to fund and finish the park project.

“Holes for shrubs and trees were pre-dug per specifications from the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department, so we finished the actual planting and backfilling,” MPC Maintenance Supervisor Roger Rivera said. “We conducted a walk-through with the El Paso Capital Improvements Group, and they were really happy with the final product.” 

Rock landscaping, an irrigation system, a new concrete sidewalk and a new park monument are also features of the park.

In all, MPC invested more than $200,000 in contractor labor, materials and equipment to finish the project, which also involved installing a new concrete sidewalk, a new park monument, an irrigation system and rock landscaping.

“We focus on supporting efforts that strengthen our community and make people’s lives better,” said MPC El Paso Refinery General Manager Travis Beltz. “A project like this will have a lasting impact on this neighborhood because it’s an asset that residents can enjoy for many years to come.”