There are plans for a Mining Heritage Park at the site of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster that killed more than 500 miners.

Project developers and Monongah PACE project said a blueprint for the park includes an entrance resembling the old mine, a soccer field and a horse stable. The project was designed by WVU students in the landscape architecture department.

Developers also hope to renovate disaster ruins to their original historical state and use recycled mine timbers and other materials for most of the park.

The community and designers say it will bring several benefits to the town.

Monongah PACE president Donald Harris said:

"It remembers the coal miners, the families, and the heritage of the coal miners. Plus, it'll bring in jobs and restore the community.”

PACE is exploring fundraising possibilities.

The Fairmont Times story on the project:

By Richard Babich Times West Virginian

Monongah may be getting a memorial park to commemorate miners lost during the worst coal disaster in the nation’s history.

The Program Advancing Community Employment (PACE) Project announced the first big step for the project Thursday, which would be a memorial and recreational park in Monongah, the site of the deadliest mine disaster in the United States’ history. The announcement was made at Hardway Hall on the Fairmont State University campus, with Jim Justice, a West Virginia businessman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, in attendance.

PACE members’ goal is to have both banks of the West Fork River in Monongah be the site of a park.

According to Dr. Craig White, the president of the PACE Project Inc. and senior level professor of sociology at Fairmont State, the area that included the old mine site and recreational areas in Monongah could be converted into a tourist attraction as well as a place for use by the community.

The memorial park would include the current soccer field and rail trails as well as add a gathering space and a new bridge to connect the east side of town to one of the mine portals and other structures once used by the mine.

White said PACE will act as a bridge to link the needs of the community with a solution, such as providing jobs and employment to Monongah. He said this is the biggest part of the project being launched.

“This particular project relates to the cultural heritage piece that was ranked high in the needs assessment,” White said.

He said the park could add jobs to the town as well.

The next step for PACE in Monongah was presented by West Virginia University landscape architecture associate professor Peter Butler and designed by student Connor Price. The presentation included a proposed park to offer employment and recreation for Monongah.

Price, a New Jersey native, said the design was drawn up after students met with community members and viewed historic photos of the mine.

“I was definitely exposed to (mining) when meeting with the community,” Price said.

Price said he found the impact the disaster had on the town to be interesting to learn about.

One concept taken from the photos was of large, wooden archways leading into the mine. The current design of the park has two of these timber thresholds — one leads to one of the mine portals and another would lead into the park.

“I thought that would be very interesting to incorporate that into the design,” Price said. “It would give people the feeling of what it would feel like descending into the mine. It also plays off the idea of using the materials that would be (there) during that era.”

Justice was supportive of the idea and said he “absolutely” wanted to see the park succeed.

“What they’re doing is my story. It’s dreaming; it’s doing something great for West Virginia,” Justice said.

He said this concept could become a tourist attraction.

"The park has such an upside potential as far as tourism, and the park itself will just be a great attraction for families that want to live here,” Justice said.

He praised the universities working together to give students a chance to learn with a hands-on opportunity.

“For good or for bad, most everybody will take my call,” Justice said. “When I call them and I try to promote something within our state, a lot of people will listen. They’ve got a dream, but they need a hand of assistance, and that needs to come from the government so that the government helps them market, promote, (have) enthusiasm and passion and maybe even dollars.”