Here is an unremarkably designed Church auditorium building erected during the last half of 1911, and located at the corner of Hueco and Cebada Avenues in Central El Paso. The Austin Park Christian Church was an expansion of the First Christian Church downtown (a Church Plant so to speak), and had their first service on Sunday, February 11, 1912.
Technically, the building is located at the corner of Montana and Cebada, but sits at the rear of the lot back at the Hueco corner. The building faces west, towards Cebada and the triangular un-named park where Hueco and Montana meet. It was built at the back-end of the lot to allow for the erection of a larger auditorium; to quote the El Paso Herald of 02/10/1912: ". . . as soon as the neighborhood is sufficiently settled, this will be converted into a parsonage and a more imposing and suitable church edifice erected." The "more imposing" edifice was indeed built, and stands today as the "Iglesia de Dios 7th dia Central" at 3301 Montana."
This building is notable because it is a Trost & Trost design, and in the context of El Paso Church history it has its place. Nevertheless, it is generically designed, aiming for a utilitarian result rather than the usual Trost work of art. The 1911 cost of erection was $2,400, and the Contractor was J.C. Hanson. The sanctuary was designed to seat 150 souls, and the single-story building has a full basement which was subdivided into Sunday School classrooms. The building is in decent condition for its 110 year age.
-- Mark Stone, citing period newspaper articles accessed at newspapers.com
All photographs are Google Earth Street View, accessed 2021
