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EL PASO — Not only are the days numbered for two towering smokestacks at the long closed Asarco copper smelter in El Paso, now the hours are numbered as well, The Associated Press reported.
Officials have announced crews will bring the 825-foot and 612-foot smokestacks down with explosives between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. MDT on Saturday, April 13. Interstate 10 and other streets adjoining the stacks will be closed during the demolition, and some homes will be evacuated in a neighborhood directly across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The smelter closed in 1999, and efforts to preserve the iconic stacks failed.
Preservation efforts failed. The demolition is part of a $52 million remediation toward site redevelopment.
El Paso television station KTSM News Channel 9 is reporting that the Mount Cristo Rey Restoration Committee is seeking donations for a good vantage point to watch the demolition from atop Mount Cristo Rey.
The committee is asking for a $5 donation on demolition day — $20 if you want a spot in the crown at the base of the statue on the actual monument, KTSM reported.
People are being urged to head up the mountain around 4:30 a.m. on the day of the razing if they want to be there on time to watch the smokestacks fall, said News Channel 9.
