From the Times Leader:


ASHLEY – Plans to transform the Huber Breaker into an anthracite
history museum will go on the scrap heap if its owner accepts an offer
to dismantle the mammoth structure to recycle its steel.

No. 1 Contracting Corp. has given a county agency seeking to preserve
the vacant structure until Dec. 7 to sweeten its offer for the
68-year-old coal-processing plant, touted as the centerpiece of a
proposed $9 million museum and park complex.

The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority had offered 6 acres it owns
near the breaker to No. 1 Contracting in return for the facility. But
company president Al Roman wants 21 other authority-owned acres near
the breaker, plus an option to buy 3 additional acres from the
authority for $60,000.

And he's given the authority 10 days to answer his counter-offer,
advising he has competing offers that could earn No. 1 Contracting
more than $650,000.

Warlock Industries of Reston, Va., has offered $285,000 to dismantle
the breaker and haul away its 1,150 tons of steel, Roman wrote in a
Nov. 27 letter to the authority. And U-Haul Corp. is interested in
buying the property after the demolition for use as a maintenance
facility, he wrote.

"No. 1 Contracting would like to see the last steel Coal Breaker saved
and am (sic) willing to accomplish this even at a loss," Roman wrote.
"We will expect an answer in 10 days from this writing since steel is
at an all-time high and we are compelled to accept or reject the offer
from Warlock Industries."

Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Allen Bellas did not return
phone messages left at his home and office Wednesday.

But the three county commissioners, who appoint the authority's board
members, said they are committed to acquiring the 134-foot-tall
breaker, the last of its kind in the anthracite region.

"It would be a travesty if the property gets dismantled," said
Commissioner Greg Skrepenak, who recently learned his maternal
grandfather died after a work accident at the breaker in the 1950s.

Commissioners Skrepenak, Todd Vonderheid and Steve Urban said the
county, through the authority, was willing to pay a fair price for the
site.

"But we can't be held with a gun to our head," Skrepenak said. "I'd be
curious to see if we could condemn the property. We have to look at
our options if we think the offer is unfair."

Vonderheid didn't want to discuss a possible condemnation at this
point, but he said the public, through the authority, has made several
reasonable offers to No. 1 Contracting. "The public just can't be
extorted."

Urban said the county should study Roman's proposal.

"If that's really the fair market value, then we should look at his
offer."

Roman, reached by phone Wednesday, confirmed he had an offer that
included the demolition of the breaker, but he declined further comment.

Officials from U-Haul Corp. could not be reached for comment Wednesday
evening. The Virginia demolition firm – identified both as Warlock
Demolition and Warlock Industries in Roman's letter – could not be
located through Internet searches or directory assistance.

The push to revive the hulking breaker, idle since 1976, has been led
by the nonprofit Huber Breaker Preservation Society, which has already
acquired 3 acres near the site to be used as a park.

The breaker, with its row upon row of broken windows, dominates Main
Street in Ashley and the view from nearby Interstate 81.

"It's a priceless architectural treasure, even though it looks a mess
right now," said society board president Anthony Mussari. "It's hard
to believe that it might not be a part of the landscape of our area."

Mussari said the breaker is a key component in proposals to boost
local tourism, citing the county's plans to put a visitors center in a
former train station in downtown Wilkes-Barre and the possibility of
linking the Huber Breaker to the Steamtown National Historic site over
existing rail lines.

"There's a thing here that 15 years from now, when fully developed,
could make this such an attractive place to visit."

The breaker could be a "monument to the sacrifices of thousands of
people who provided the anthracite that fueled the industrial
revolution in this part of the country," Mussari said.




this would be normal for northeast pa. i expect this to happen.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

Unbelievable. It's always about money. Here I thought that Huber was somehow on the to-be-saved list but apparently Pennsylvania wants NOTHING to remember their mining heritage by. It is amazing how disconnected people are from their past. Tearing down the Huber is not just a blow to Pennsylvania, but an insult to America's industrial revolution.

_________________
"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"

yea im still pissed that this is even a remote possibility so im not going to post anything about my feelings on it yet

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

..... i don't know what to say. other than its INSANE.

I am about to start a research paper for school on "icons." I chose for my paper the Huber breaker, becasue it is THE icon of the Anthracite industry everywhere in the wyoming valley, and it's the only one left in the Northern Field........ To tear it down, and turn it into what so many breakers before it have become would be a terrible terrible terrible loss.

This is hard to comprehend really............... it's a nightmare that i hope will never be played out.

Banks

_________________
This ain't longwall... this is long hole!

unbelieveable...

_________________
-Thou shalt not little vein-

This is terrible. This was a great chance to boost local tourism in the area, a way to remember the town of Ashley by, and now there are plans to sell it for scrap. This clears shows you that nothing is ever safe even though there is a non-profit organization standing behind it to save it. If this goes through, this will be a sad time for Anthracite history.

Miner Greg

yea, it sucks if it acutally happens, but i dont think it will now. i bet it was just a way to try to get more money out of the preservation socioty. the guy who owns it wants to see it preserved, but still he wants money too. tough position.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

i saw the belair breaker near pittstone pa, one the grounds of popple constr., the guy gave us a tour, it sure is shot to high hell, they are tearing whats left of it down he told us grabbed some good pics, they were using it up until around 4 years ago for minor poopie, i think thats literally one of like what maybe 2 left in the northern field?!

_________________
What goes around comes around.

this is fantastic! huge news for the huber! great job of the people of luzern county.

From timesleader. com:

Ashley breaker to be saved

The historic Huber Breaker has been saved from the wrecking ball.

Luzerne County Commissioners unanimously voted Wednesday to take
control of the Ashley coal breaker through eminent domain.

A court-appointed review board will establish the fair market value
price that the county must pay to No. 1 Contracting, which owns the
breaker and 26 surrounding acres.

While No. 1 Contracting may appeal, county officials say it's highly
unlikely the company will succeed because the county is taking the
property for "purely public purpose." Commissioners came up with the
takeover plan because No. 1 Contracting owner Al Roman recently told
the county that he is thinking of selling the breaker for its scrap
value and selling the land for development.

For the complete story, read Thursday's edition.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

perfect use for that law bout time they stepped in.

_________________
What goes around comes around.

im going to try to get a hold of billy best tomorow. he is the president of the preservation society. ill try to get more info off him as to what happens now.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

chris are we going to do anything before i ship out next week dude?i can still show you that elevator, etc.

_________________
What goes around comes around.