Demolition on historical smoke stacks is delayed one year

The group of people who want to save the Asarco smoke stacks have been granted a year. The group said they're not sure if one year will be enough time.

Roberto Puga is the man in charge of spending millions of dollars to clean Asarco up. He's the trustee of the Asarco Custodial Trust. Even though he's agreed to delay the stack's demolition for a year, he said the task of saving the stacks will not be an easy one in a meeting Tuesday night.

"They (the Save the Smoke Stack group) really need to have an entity, a legal entity that can take possession of the stacks," Puga said. "They need to show that they have the financial backing to do this. Probably the most important thing is they really need to go out there with a qualified structural engineer and get an opinion as to what needs to be done to the stacks."

The Save the Smoke Stack group started to brainstorm fundraising efforts and different ideas of what should happen with the stacks.

One man suggested the towers should be made into a Don Haskins memorial. Someone else asked about putting elevator shafts in them.

Puga reminded the crowd that they need to focus on saving the stacks first.

Robert Ardovino spearheaded the Save the Smoke Stack movement.

KFOX14 News reporter Ric Dupont asked Ardovino if one year will be enough time to organize and get the needed funding.

"I don't quite know," Ardovino said. "We're going start. We're going try and we're going to see. Hopefully we ask enough of the right questions and we get enough of the right answers to show them that this is viable and that the city needs to preserve it."

Not everyone at the meeting was in favor of saving the smokestacks. James Weidner attended the meeting to share his concerns with the group.

"Growing up, occassionally we'd have what they call 'sulfur days,' because the air was so full of smog from Asarco," said Weidner, who thinks the stacks are an eyesore. "They'd end up cutting class in half or just cancelling school that day.  I don't see how future generations are going to appreciate keeping the stacks up, and I can only imagine they'd have a negative viewpoint about it."

There will be a public meeting on this issue Thursday.

If you have a story that you feel deserves media attention, contact Ric Dupont at ric.dupont@kfoxtv.com.