European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ajo Ariz. Trying to save a dying town by Arthurh Rotstein associated press Alf the residents of Ajo. Ariz., Hava moved away since the Copper mine shut Down and scores of Homes stand amply in the isolated own less than 40 Miles from Maximo. Ajo which Means garlic in Spanish is a company town without a company Phelps Dodge corp. Closed its mining operations there when cheaper foreign imports pushed the Price of Copper Down. Bui the folks who Are Letl Are Quick to Tell you Ajo intends to survive. And those empty Homes Are one of the reasons they think ii Wilt. Ajo is counting on affordable housing and its mild Winters to attract a new Breed of residents retirees this town is going to survive says Pima county sheriff s it. Jack Garchow a resident since 1959, it won t be a ghost town. We be never had anything but the Copper Industry but people Are moving in to Lake advantage of Ajo s Winters they re where it s at they be got new ideas our town is going to develop an altogether different  in 1981, when the Phelps Dodge s new Cornelia mine Milt concentrator and smaller were at Peak operations the company employed 1,174 of the unincorporated Community s 5,000 to 6,000 residents. Today with All its operations hailed and following a Long and bitter strike that lat hundreds permanently out of work. Phelps Dodge has 25 employees there. James l. Armstrong Phelps Dodge Plant superintendent said that company employees in 1981 had $22 million to spend in the Community. Today the figure is More like $500.000. So you can imagine what s happening to the Economy and Why so Many businesses have tailed Armstrong says. Armstrong says the mine will not reopen before Copper prices climb above $1 a Pound and thai is probably Wralty Remote Over the next few years. Ajo s town Center Stilt stands an arched Mission style covered Plaza flanking three sides of a Small tree lined Park. But some of its stores and the movie theater Are closed and the Railroad ticket office houses the chamber of Commerce. It still draws residents to Aid s sole grocery store the pharmacy Post office or Park. Paul p. Vasquez Branch manager of the Valley National Bank is another who says he has no doubt the town will survive. He Calls it a ready made town with mountains of Copper tailings surround the Center of afo Ariz., about 85 Miles a Ouimett of Phoenix. Clean air and quiet streets increasingly Ajo s new residents Are seeking the one commodity Ajo has in abundance empty houses. In 1981, most of the Phelps Dodge workers lived in company housing Aboul 700 of an estimated 1,900 Homes in he area today the town s population has shrunk to Aboul 3.000 As people have drilled off to Phoenix or Tucson or elsewhere to Lind work about 40 commute to work at a doer factory in Gila Bend 40 Miles away. In the past 1ft years nearly 150 of Phelps Dodge s 700 Homes Hava been sold As have some private dwellings. Most have been bought by retirees from Iowa Washington state Minnesota. New York Montana Alaska. Prices for the Homes some 50 to 60 years old have averaged Aboul $20,000, an additional 500 have been awaiting state real estate Board approval of zoning assured water Supply and sewage disposal before being marketed. Betty Topping who with her Alired husband bought a Phelps Dodge Home in May 1995 and moved to Ajo from Birmingham Iowa echoes a common belief. I think As More retirees come in businesses will pick up and thai in turn will bring in Young people she says. Pur biggest concern should be keeping the businesses Here to provide services if and when the houses Are sold says chamber of Commerce manager Jeannie Morago. But there Are numerous other concerns health service a clinic staffed by two doctors and a nurse oilers the Only medical care Lor Ajo residents Short of Phoenix 87 mites away or Tucson. Phelps Dodge closed its Hospital last year and has subsidized the clinic managed by Samaritan health service until next year. In the november election residents of Ajo and Lukeville a Iny Community less than 40 Miles South at the mexican Border overwhelmingly approved creation of the state s first health service District to take in Over. Bui there is no nursing Homo school enrolment. It has dropped from 1.396 to 666 Slud cols in the past Lour years. Shopping. It s limited at Best though Al teas so people still have ongoing business operations. The sole grocery is part of the Phelps Dodge mercantile store which Armstrong says will slay open As Long As i remains profitable. Entertainment. There s virtually none the Ajo country club has a nine Fife Goll course and there Are Park District Church and school recreational programs. But Shore is no movie healer or Bowling Alley. Food service. Thoro air ust three functioning restaurants and As Topping says senior citizens or retired people love to eat out and Here Are still other problems. In the absence of jobs much of the labor Supply has left meaning there Aren t Many workers around Lor any potential Industrial development there also Are no full amenity modern Parks Tor Mobile Homes or recreational vehicles a Musl to attract Winter visitors and tourists and to whet their interest in Ajo As a possible Home. And though Gerchow cites a of s location As one of its Strong Points it s & two edged sword its distance. From interstate Highway and rail service deters potential new Industry. In addition Ajo is landlocked with Lille land available for any new major development. It is bounded by an air Force gunnery Jange. The Organ pipe Cactus National Monument the Cabeza Arleta National wildlife Refuge and the Tolono o Odham Indian reservation but Garchow says some View As a real plus that we re landlocked the town can Only gel so Large. And if you re sick and tired of being in a big City it s a big  a of � warm dry Winters with practically guaranteed sunny Days Are an attraction for visitors. The air generally is clean unpolluted and pollen free though Strong winds in dry weather can dust the town with an irritating powdery residue from Copper tailings it s quiet and peaceful Here no rat race says Leo c. Williams 69, a 40-year resident who runs one of the town s three motels. Anybody can drive to work in three minutes and not have to  the crime Rale is Small by big City standards and has been lowered dramatically says Garchow burglaries dropped from 124 to 36 Over nine months property loss from $71,000 to $4,700. But he adds that the signs and symptoms of drug smuggling Are present Ajo was a major smuggling Hub in the mid-1970s because of its proximity o Mexico Ajo is also a i templing to got the . Customs service to open the Lukeville Border crossing on a 24 hour basis and to allow produce and livestock trucking into this country from Sonola and cab orca Mexico. Just South of the Border lie several Hundred thousand acres of Farmland but mexican growers now Musl haul their produce As much As 10 times farther than lha Lukeville route to reach Nogales produce brokerages. Armstrong s7, a third generation resident of Ajo expects the Sale of the empty Homes to accelerate Over Iho coming months additional people arc going to make the local businesses healthy  saturday april 25, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 17