Engineers are inspecting the ASARCO smokestacks in an effort to keep them from being demolished.

"It is a testament to our time and it shows the people who worked hard and helped build this community," said west El Paso resident Cody Wise.

Wise said he remembers seeing the smokestacks from the back yard of his home when he was younger; He thinks the ASARCO smokestacks should be saved.

"I think they should keep a memory in this town for the people who worked and even died at the company."

The smokestacks in west El Paso left a legacy of pain and prosperity for some borderland residents before shutting down in 1990.

Plans to tear the stacks were halted after a local group called "Save the Stacks" made a petition to save them.

"What concerns me is the issue of the contamination," said west El Paso resident Edgar Bonilla, "If it's going to be ideal and safe to make something there, and it's safe I would go for it."

The group headlining the preservation plan believes the stacks can be saved, but studies estimate it would cost $14 million to maintain the stacks over the next 50 years.

"I say just leave it alone, break it down," said central El Pasoan Salvador Fuentes "I just would not want anything to do with that building."

Fuentes said even if the site was cleaned up, he would still be worried about going near the site.

"I just had an infant baby," said Fuentes, I would not want it to affect her in any way."

Project managers argue that the stacks are no longer polluting, and are a staple of El Paso's history, but some borderland residents are mixed when it comes to the legacy the smokestacks have left.

"Some families were lost because of it," said Salvador," Why are you going to bring back memories of a place that unfortunately some of us lost some family to."

The study cost the group $34,000.

Engineers will be looking for any cracks that may be structurally unsafe.

A decision to save the stacks will be made Dec. 4, 2012.

If ASARCO trustees do decide to tear it down, it will take three more months to make the preparations.