Columnist Jeff German: Del Prado fights on 2 fronts now

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

Iam not surprised to see that Elisa Del Prado is still fighting for her life two weeks after being brutally beaten inside her downtown jewelry store.

In the few months that I have known her, she has shown the grit and determination of a true fighter.

Before her life took a tragic turn, the 68-year-old Del Prado, a Cuban immigrant who rose to prominence within the local Hispanic community, was waging a different fight.

She was battling City Hall to save her business, World Merchants-Importers at Fourth Street and Carson Avenue.

This week, as Del Prado lies in a coma on life support at University Medical Center, her son John Del Prado has decided to carry on that fight for her.

Like his mother before him, he's seeking money from the city to move World Merchants back to Fremont Street -- where it belongs -- where the family, after years of listening to broken promises from officials, can at least have a chance to make a go of things.

But so far, like his mother, John Del Prado hasn't found much compassion from city leaders.

Back in 1994, city officials persuaded the Del Prados to move World Merchants away from its prime Fremont Street location to make room for construction of the Fremont Street Experience, a glitzy pedestrian mall designed to bring back tourists to downtown.

Officials promised that World Merchants would be showered with business once the mall was completed and the tourists returned.

Well, that never happened. Business never caught on at the new location one block away, and even though city officials gave the Del Prados about $160,000 to relocate to Carson Avenue, they felt betrayed by the city, as they struggled to keep open their doors.

In an interview in March, Elisa Del Prado told me she sold her home, stopped taking a salary and was paying bills with credit cards -- all to make up for more than $1 million in losses at the Carson Avenue location.

Del Prado said she had been pressing city leaders for financial help, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

About two months ago, I spoke again with Del Prado, and she expressed hope that a meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman might lead to some meaningful good news.

No such luck.

A couple of days after Del Prado was beaten unconscious and her mother was killed in the brutal jewelry store attack, Goodman was quoted as saying that he had told Del Prado that the best the city could do was put a bus stop in front of World Merchants.

This week John Del Prado said he welcomed any help from City Hall. But he added: "We're past the point of taking baby steps here. We need someone to step up to the plate."

It's not as if Del Prado is asking for a handout. All he wants is what his family is owed -- a chance to return to a good business climate and once more become good downtown citizens.

With all of the millions of dollars the city pours into the Fremont Street Experience to keep the casinos afloat, surely it can spare another $160,000 to move World Merchants back to where it belongs.

That's what Elisa Del Prado would be saying if she wasn't in a coma.