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Kentucky coal mine opens to tourists
People in area hope tours helps economy, honor men who worked there
 | Animatronic miners work on a drill in Portal 31, a tourist mine in Lynch, Ky. |
AP/Southeast Community College |
LYNCH, Kentucky - Joseph Marzelli is glad for the cheerful canary singing in the darkness of an Appalachian coal mine.
"As long as I can hear your song, I know I'm safe," Marzelli says in a heavy Italian accent as he explains the ins and outs of coal mining as it was done in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when miners used canaries as air monitors.
Marzelli is one of a crew of animatronic miners who greet visitors inside Portal 31, an underground coal mine that folks here have transformed into a tourist attraction.
In broken English, Marzelli, flanked by an animatronic coal-mining mule, shares his appreciation for his new home in America and a job that, at the time, was done primarily with picks and shovels and dynamite.
"Life is bellissimo," he says.
Folks in this historic mining community share his enthusiasm after turning the old mine into the centerpiece for the budding tourism industry built around coal. Three decades after Portal 31 played out, they're hoping the mine that meanders for miles beneath Black Mountain will once again be an economic engine for Harlan County while also honoring the lives of the hard-bodied men who braved darkness and danger to eke out their livings in the Appalachians.
Local resident Terina Widner, daughter of a coal miner who was killed in an underground explosion near here, said she's convinced Portal 31 can be an economic boon for the community.
"It's very realistic," Widner said. "This is a golden opportunity. We now have the key ingredient to pull this whole recipe of cultural tourism together in Harlan County."
Going back in time
Widner and her 8-year-old son, Brett, were part of a group that boarded a railcar in early October for a tour through the reinforced tunnels.
"Keep your arms and legs inside," a voice reminds the passengers. "Remember, safety first. As you can see from the posters, it's our motto here at Portal 31. Always has been, since the mine opened in 1917."
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With that said, the railcar begins to rumble down the tracks and into the darkness of the mine. It's so dark at times, passengers can't see the people sitting around them.
"Now, just so you know, we'll be going not just through the mine, but back in time ...
"Our first stop, 1919."
That's when Marzelli comes into view and the railcar comes to a stop. Depicting a recent immigrant, Marzelli leans on his pick and talks to the snorting mule. Marzelli appears lifelike in the dim light. His lips move realistically as he discusses life as a miner after the turn of 20th century.
A Welshman yells from the darkness: "Fire in the hole." Then, the rumble of an explosion. It unnerves the mule. "Easy, calmare," Marzelli says in a calming voice. "Aren't you used to that noise yet?"
The roughly 30-minute tour involves eight stops, all of which depict a different era in mining, progressing to a modern-day exhibit that shows the kind of toothy machines that continuously chew coal out of the black veins inside the Appalachians.
Reinforced for safety
The $2.5 million project was decades in the planning and involved not only the creative talents of writers and designers but also the expertise of engineers like Steve Gardner of Lexington, whose job was to ensure tourist safety.
Gardner said he limited the tour to areas of the mine that have proven safe over nearly 90 years. He added so-called roof bolts, long metal rods drilled into the overhead rock layers to provide additional stability. Then he installed a super-strength metal mesh overhead. Tunnel walls were covered with a sealant to permanently bind the coal and rock in place. Contractors also sealed off unused mine tunnels to keep methane gases out.
Gardner and other designers then ordered an overhead metal cab for the railcar for yet another level of protection in case of rock falls.
"It was not difficult to make the mine safe," Gardner said. "It was just taking care of the basics."
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