By Charles Boothe

April 21, 2019 - The reopening of the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine has been delayed until late Juiy.

Pocahontas Mayor Ben Gibson said work has not progressed enough on a renovation project to open it safely before then, and the delay was caused by a combination of factors.

“The government shutdown slowed us down,” he said of the closure of parts of the federal government earlier this year, which impacted the process of obtaining grant money related to the project.

“We were spending funding from the Department of the Interior,” he said. “When the shutdown happened, it put a kink in it.”

Gibson is referring to a total of $1.8 million in grants as part of the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Pilot Program that was announced last year for the rehab work to update the mine’s interior as well as renovate the museum.

The museum project, which will include a restaurant and other amenities, should be complete by spring of 2020, he added.

Because of safety concerns in the mine, it did not open last year and would have opened on schedule next month if not for the delays, he added.

“Roof bolting inside the mine begins on April 30 and should be complete by July 5,” he said, allowing the mine to reopen by the end of July.

Gibson said grant work takes a long time because of all the government protocol to follow and in the case of the historic nature of the mine, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) had to approve any changes.

Rick Chitwood, the project manager with Thompson & Litton, a Tazewell engineering firm, said recently that “we are a little behind. We had to work with the State DHR office to make sure we are in compliance with what they are looking for. But I think we have pretty much got that resolved.”

One of the issues with the DHR concerned replacing the roof of the museum with a more durable metal roof, “but they did not want to do that.”

Another holdup has been a report from engineers who specialize in the roof in the mine itself.

“We want to put in support and roof bolts,” he said, replacing the “column jacks” now being used. That would allow trams to be used inside for tourists.

Chitwood said renovations inside the museum include windows and doors, new ACA complaint bathroom facilities and a commercial kitchen for a restaurant with a seating area that could accommodate 92 people.

Other than roof bolts in the mine itself, it will also be rewired to bring it up to compliance with code. The walkway in the mine will be paved.

Gibson said some safety issues that the town could not afford to fix forced the tourist attraction to be closed last season.

When the grant money was announced last year, he said the renovations will help bring in more people.

“This is the largest tourism grant the town of Pocahontas has ever seen and the results from this money should mean a greater economic return to our town,” he said. “This mine is the town’s treasure and unique to Virginia so we need to ensure it becomes a place people across the world put on their lists to visit.”

It is estimated the town will see a 50-percent increase in ticket sales due to the improvements.

Another round of funding could also be coming related to renovating nearby ballfields to be ready for commercial development, Chitwood said.

That development would help with the burgeoning ATV tourist industry. An addition to the Old Pocahontas Trail (part of the Spearhead Trail System) was celebrated Dec. 6, 2018 beside the Pocahontas Fire Station.

Chitwood said when ATV riders visit, they will want to see what attractions may be available, like touring the exhibition mine.

“A lot of riders from out of state come here,” he said. “And they come with money and look for other things to do.”

The Pocahontas mine was the first in southwest Virginia. Coal mined there served the U.S. Navy through two World Wars. It employed hundreds of citizens and immigrants throughout the time it was an active operation.