Time is short for historical breaker

ASHLEY – The fate of the Huber Breaker in Ashley remains up in the air, to the frustration of coal mining history buffs who’d like to see it preserved.

Visible from Interstate 81, the hulking structure is the largest standing coal breaker left in Pennsylvania, said Ray Clarke, board chairman of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society.

Luzerne County Commissioners pulled out of plans to turn the site into a mining museum in January 2009, saying the county could not afford the $7 million purchase price demanded by property owner, No. 1 Contracting Corp.

Local historian John Dziak said he and others worry the breaker will be dismantled for scrap as part of the bankruptcy.

A meeting of creditors in that bankruptcy case is scheduled for April 23 at the federal courthouse in Scranton.

“Everybody’s waiting for somebody else to do something. There’s no coordinated effort to find out what could be done and the costs,” said Dziak, president of the Greater Pittston Historical Society.

Dziak said he would be willing to volunteer his time to help with the breaker preservation but said he can’t spearhead the cause because of several ongoing projects in the Greater Pittston Historical Society.

The museum portion of the project could be scaled back to cost much less than $9 million, he said. The site would attract tourists, he said.

Clarke said he has long hoped to save the breaker but doesn’t want to develop plans unless an organization or government entity acquires the property, and he doesn’t know if or when that will happen because of the purchase price.

Even if No. 1 Contracting President Al Roman were willing to donate the breaker, the cost of liability insurance could deter takers, Clarke said.

“It’s kind of foolish to invest time and money when we don’t own the property, and Al Roman isn’t about to relinquish the property at the present time,” Clarke said.

Instead, the preservation society is focusing on developing its 3.1-acre plot near the breaker into a park that will be worthwhile with or without the breaker, he said.

“It’s something tangible that we have, and we feel it makes more sense trying to develop that,” Clarke said.

The society is collecting donations and seeking grants to put a miner’s memorial, informational kiosks and walking and picnic areas in the park, Clarke said.

The society’s land also includes the concrete foundation of the Huber colliery’s powder house, where miners obtained dynamite for blasting.

Plans to build a replica of the powder house on that foundation and possibly a company house, museum and gift shop are also under discussion, said Clarke, who has been working on the Huber project for 19 years.