Push to ‘Save’ Asarco Smokestacks
Asarco’s trustee is now re-thinking the demolition date for the old smelter’s two remaining smokestacks. It’s been pushed back to next year, according to our partners at El Paso, Inc.
Local business owners Gary Sapp and Robert Ardovino are spearheading the movement to keep the stacks intact.
Ardovino refers to the Asarco stacks as historical landmarks and architectural works of art, butj ust don’t call them ‘smokestacks’ in front of him.
“Its not smokestack anymore. It’s a giant monument,” said restaurant owner and leader of ‘Save the Stacks,’ Robert Ardovino. He said the stacks serve as a reminder of how some in the El Paso community stepped up to shut down the plant, which officially closed in 2009.
“When it was belching out smoke people looked at it one way and now that its never going to do that again,” said Ardovino. “People should re-examine the way they see that stack.”
According to Ardovino there’s no need to choose between a new construction project and the stacks.
“It’s better to keep what you have and work with it than scrape it clean,” said Ardovino
But why voice concerns now, after two smaller stacks have already fallen?
“It’s a little late in the game people would have probably said that,” admitted Ardovino. “But we got together and realized there a lot of people that think these things are important and we don’t need to be told that (the stacks) need to be taken down.”
Our media partners at El Paso, Inc reported Asarco trustee Roberto Puga estimates it would cost $14 million over the long term to preserve the stacks. But Ardovino maintained there’s a way to make it work.
“We’ve looked at the numbers and we realized it’s completely do-able,” insisted Ardovino. “I think there are a lot of things those stacks can do. If you take the time to go stand underneath one and just look straight up, that’s enough for a lot of people, I think.”
The Save the Stacks group is fairly new and still getting organized, but they are having a meeting 6 pm on Nov. 1 at the El Paso Community Foundation.
