Coal Mining Heritage Park Consulting Report .Pdf
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Coal Mining Heritage Park, Montgomery County, Virginia: Study, Plan, and Recommendations Mary B. La Lone, Ed. Karen A. Barnes Bobbi Jo Burnett Rehana G. Durani Jacquelin T. Graham Melissa E. Lamb Daliah G. Macon Matthew D. Schrag Elaine G. Staab Jennifer K. Zelinski Radford University Department of Sociology and Anthropology February 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . viii PART I: 1. THE MERRIMAC COAL MINING HERITAGE PARK PROJECT By Mary B. La Lone . 1 NEED FOR A HERITAGE PARK AT MERRIMAC . 1 THE COAL MINING HERITAGE PARK PROJECT: BACKGROUND AND DESIGN . 2 APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY AS A GUIDING APPROACH FOR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . 3 Heritage Preservation . 4 Planning and Design For the Community, With Community Input and Participation . 5 ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT . 8 CONCLUSION . 9 2. THE PARK PLAN AND SUGGESTED PHASING By Mary B. La Lone . 10 CONCEPTUAL PLAN . 10 Three Integrated Themes in the Park Plan: Heritage, Community, And Environment . 12 SUGGESTED PHASING . 13 PART II: 3. COAL MINING HERITAGE PARK: HERITAGE PRESERVATION FOR THE FUTURE By Matthew D. Schrag, Elaine G. Staab, Bobbi Jo Burnett, and Mary B. La Lone . 20 SIGNAGE . 21 TRAILS AND RELATED HERITAGE FEATURES . 33 REPLICATED MINER’S HOUSE . 36 Garden . 39 Structures Surrounding the House . 39 Furnishing a House . 39 i Page MUSEUM/VISITOR’S CENTER . 41 Exhibits . 43 Photographs . 47 Videos . 47 A Mining Heritage Archive for Books, Documentation, and Oral History . 47 Children’s Corner . 47 OTHER HERITAGE STRUCTURES . 48 Commissary . 49 Combined Shops . 49 Storage Buildings . 50 Tipple . 51 Rebuilding an Authentic New River Valley Miner’s House . 52 PHASING AND AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HERITAGE ASPECTS OF THE PARK . 53 CONCLUSION . 54 4. MAKING THE PARK WORK: FACILITIES AND CONVENIENCES By Daliah G. Macon, Karen A. Barnes, and Melissa E. Lamb . 55 AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) . 55 RESTROOMS . 57 DRINKING FOUNTAINS . 57 SECURITY . 58 PARKING . 58 BENCHES AND PICNIC TABLES . 60 PICNIC SHELTERS I AND II . 61 BIKE RACKS . 62 FRONT PORCH PAVILION . 63 PARK MAINTENANCE . 64 HERITAGE BRIDGE . 64 MUSEUM/VISITOR’S CENTER . 65 MERRIMAC JUNCTION . 67 INFRASTRUCTURE . 68 CONCLUSION . 68 5. SERVING A COMMUNITY: PARK RECREATION AND TRAILS By Melissa E. Lamb, Jennifer K. Zelinski, and Daliah G. Macon. .. 69 COMMUNITY RECREATION AREA . 70 What is a Community Recreation Area? Seven components . 70 Why a Community Recreation Area? . 72 Where Should a Community Recreation Area be Located? . 73 The East End Flood Plain . 74 Issues of Importance in the First Phases of the Park . 75 ii Page FACILITIES IN THE COMMUNITY RECREATION AREA . 78 Front Porch Pavilion: Bringing the Past into the Present, So That It May Serve Us in the Future . 78 Playground: Fun for All Ages . 80 Lick Creek Bridge on the Merrimac Loop Trail . 81 TRAILS . 81 Merrimac Loop Trail . 82 Mule Trail . 85 Bunker Hill Trail . 85 Drift Mouth Trail . 86 Miner’s House Trail . 87 Huckleberry Trail . 88 CONCLUSION . 88 6. GETTING BACK TO YOUR “ROOTS”: ENVIRONMENT AND NATURE EDUCATION By Jacquelin T. Graham, Melissa E. Lamb, Jennifer K. Zelinski, and Rehana G. Durani . 90 OVERVIEW OF PARK ENVIRONMENTAL ZONES . 90 Zone One . 91 Zone Two . 93 Zone Three . 93 Zone Four . 93 Zone Five . 94 Zone Six . 94 NATURE EDUCATION . 95 Interest Groups . 96 Signage . 96 WETLAND CONSERVATION AREA . 100 Wetland and Accompanying Nature Trail . 100 Location for the Nature Education Center . 100 OTHER SUGGESTIONS . 104 CONCLUSION . 105 PART III: 7. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARK DEVELOPMENT By Mary B. La Lone . 106 iii Page REFERENCES CITED . 112 INTERVIEWS AND FIED RESEARCH CITED . 115 APPENDICES Appendix A: The Community Survey and Survey Results . 118 Appendix B: Community Input from the Community Meetings Held in Merrimac, October 21 and 23, 1999 . 128 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1.1 Summary of survey responses about types of park facilities desired. 7 Figure 2.1 Coal Mining Heritage Park: Park Overview. 11 Figure 3.1 Coal Mining Heritage Park: Signs & Posts. 22 Figure 3.2 Map of Merrimac, circa 1937, drafted by Scott Kennedy based on information from Fred Lawson. Courtesy of the Coal Mining Heritage Association of Montgomery County. ..