Recommendations for Park Development

By Mary B. La Lone

Recommendations for park development appear throughout this report, however, in this concluding chapter we would like to emphasize some of our stronger recommendations for the development of the Coal Mining Heritage Park at Merrimac. All of these recommendations are important; the numeric listing does not reflect priorities.

1. The heritage focus is a unique, exciting, and important theme for the park at Merrimac. Montgomery County is demonstrating that it cares about the county's past, and that it views heritage preservation and education as one of its roles. Protecting the heritage so that it can be passed on to the next generation is extremely important right now, at a time in which the county landscape is undergoing such rapid change. Cultural stewardship of the land is a concern throughout the Appalachian region, as demonstrated through the theme of the March 2000 Appalachian Studies Association conference ("Regional Stewardship for the Millennium"), and Montgomery County is taking a leading role through its development of the Coal Mining Heritage Park.

The Coal Mining Heritage Association of Montgomery County has a special

interest in working cooperatively with the county in developing the park at

Merrimac. The county and the CMHA have a common goal: to honor and

preserve the county's mining heritage. Many of the recommendations in this

report point to ways in which the county and CMHA can join efforts to develop

heritage-based education at different phases in the park development.

2. Plan park development to take place in those areas of the Merrimac property that have previously been disturbed ­ try not to disturb undisturbed land. The reasons for this recommendation are:

• In order the preserve the archaeological integrity of the site.

• To protect and enhance the recovery of the natural landscape.

• To minimize the potential for mine subsidence.

This recommendation is applied in our park planning in a number of ways:

• We recommend the development of the Community Recreation Area, parking lot, and Museum/Visitor's Center take place on the east end of the Merrimac property, in areas where the land has been disturbed previously.

• We strongly recommend that the trails within the park, wherever possible, be constructed on top of previous roads, driveways, and tramlines since these routes have already undergone disturbance and compaction. Placing the trails on previously compacted vehicular and industrial foot routes will protect the rest of the historic site. The low-impact trails recommended in this report have been specifically routed to follow prior road beds and industrial paths, to the best of our knowledge (with the exception of the Nature Trail along Lick Creek). Archaeological survey and historic knowledge should be combined to identify and mark the exact locations of these previously-existing road beds before constructing the trails.

1. Extend the park boundaries to incorporate all of the historic districts associated with the Merrimac Mine. Currently, the park encompasses the industrial mining section of Merrimac, the commissary, and some of the houses occupied by mine supervisors. However, two major areas of historic Merrimac fall outside the park boundaries:

• Bunker Hill, where mining families lived in company houses built by the Merrimac Mine

• The site of the Merrimac hotel.

The concern is that historic Merrimac be preserved, treated appropriately, and interpreted to the public as a whole. The concern is also that the additional pieces of Merrimac currently lying outside the park boundaries need protection so that the heritage they represent, and the archaeological remains at those sites, not be bulldozed over or developed. Montgomery County should play an important role in historic preservation by ensuring that the whole historic site of Merrimac is kept intact and protected as the county's Coal Mining Heritage Park.

1. Create a buffer zone, for sight and noise, between the park and its neighbors.

• One recommendation is to extend the park boundaries outward enough to create a buffer zone between park users viewing the historic features of the park and current/future houses outside the park. On the northern side of the park, especially, the park boundaries appear to lie right across some of the historic house sites. As park visitors hike the Miner's House Trail and visit the archaeological ruins of a supervisor's house, they may find themselves staring directly at a park boundary fence, or into the backyards of future housing developments. This is not a conducive atmosphere to provide visitors the feeling that they are stepping back in time to become immersed in the heritage experience. Additionally, future house owners that have backyards butting right against the park boundaries will not be pleased to have trail hikers staring into their yards. The potential for these tensions can be eliminated by extending the park boundaries outward enough to put a buffer zone between the historic sites and trails, and the houses (or future houses) outside the park.

• A second recommendation is that where houses now lie close to the park boundaries, such as at the west end of the park, efforts be made to create "green screens" that will muffle the noise from the park, prevent trail hikers from staring into the neighbors' yards, and prevent park and trail users from straying into the neighboring properties. These living screens could be hedges or dense plantings of trees and shrubs, and would be best if they consist of low maintenance plant materials that fit with the surrounding environment.

1. Move the current Consolidated Waste Site and use this graded lot, located next to the park, to provide a needed parking lot for visitors to the Coal Mining Heritage Park and the Huckleberry Trail. This report (Chapters 4 and 5) discusses the need to provide suitable parking for automobiles and school buses, and the reasons why the current Consolidated Waste Site provides the only suitable site for parking. Among those reasons are its proximity to the Merrimac Road entrance and the Community Recreation Area of the park, the fact that it is already graded and large enough for the needed parking, and its location above the sight lines of Huckleberry Trail hikers.

2. Keep development at the park, especially along the Huckleberry Trail, in keeping with the heritage, community, and environmental themes of the park. All structures should be built in ways that fit and are in character with the mining heritage theme. Larger scale construction, such as the parking lot and the museum, should be placed so as to be minimally intrusive to walkers and hikers who wish to enjoy the natural beauty of the Huckleberry Trail. Since environmental education is a theme of the park, the natural environment should be left undisturbed in areas away from the trails and Community Recreation Area wherever possible. This will also serve to keep park users from disturbing the areas of the park that are best protected for archaeological reasons.

3. Security for the Coal Mining Heritage Park is a concern that needs to be addressed early in the planning process. We have made a number of recommendations in this regard:

• Close the access road beside the park to vehicular traffic to discourage vandalism, trash dumping, and injury to park visitors. We recommend that this measure be taken immediately so that disgruntled four-wheelers will cool off before substantial development occurs at the park.
• Work out a systematic plan with the Sheriff's Office for patrolling the park on a regular basis.
• Provide emergency call boxes at one or more locations along the Huckleberry Trail (this may be one area in which the county's park plans may dovetail with the Amenities Plan for the Huckleberry Trail).
• Develop a strong security system as part of the park infrastructure to protect park buildings (especially those of heritage value), outdoor exhibits, and signs against vandalism, and similarly, to protect people and discourage after-hours activities in the park. These measures will go a long way in winning the community and protecting park property.

 

1. Make community input and involvement prominent in all aspects and stages of the park planning process. The importance of community involvement has been stressed in this report, and it was central to the research methodology. If the community is to have a stake in developing and maintaining the park, it must be a park that meets its needs and furthers its goals.

• Many of the recommendations in this report were generated by people from the community, elicited through community meetings, targeted interviews, and small-group brainstorming sessions. From this we learned what facilities the community would like to have at the park, and what their interests and concerns are in park development. We recommend that the county continue to find ways to generate citizen input in all phases of the park development. The community, as it becomes familiar and comfortable with the park's goals, may also prove to be a substantial resource base for development if community involvement is fostered. In the report, we recommend a number of ways in which community events can be staged to heighten public awareness of the park and to foster people's sense of ownership and responsibility to the park.
• During the research process, we discovered that the park sparked great interest with a number of segments of the community. New River Valley school teachers were very excited about the possibilities the park presents for heritage-based and environment-based education. Residents of Warm Hearth use the park and are interested enhancing its environment. Roanoke Railcar, a group involved in restoration of historic railroad equipment, is interested in the possibility of locating a Huckleberry caboose at the park. The Merrimac church youth group, hiking and biking clubs, and nature groups are among other potential park users and supporters. We recommend that the county seek out and involve these, and other potential user groups in the park planning.
• We recommend that Montgomery County establish a Citizens Advisory Board to guide developments at the Coal Mining Heritage Park. Members of this board should include key people who worked in partnership with the county on this planning report (Robert Freis, Fred Lawson, Tom Klatka, Mary La Lone), as well as representatives from the local communities and the potential user groups identified in this report (for example, Stacie Haynes from Merrimac community, Lori Shepherd from Price's Fork community, Bill Ellenbogen from Friends of the Huckleberry, Dolly Cottrill from Price's Fork Elementary School, John Robinson from Warm Hearth). Also, so that the wider community audience has venues for input and participation, we recommend that the county hold community meetings early in each phase of the park's development. The purpose of the meetings should not be just to inform the public but, instead, to seek people's active participation in meaningful ways that give them a real stake in the park's development.

1. Similarly, we recommend that the county continue its partnership with Dr. La Lone, involving her and her anthropology students at Radford University in future planning for the park. Dr. La Lone has established a scholarly reputation and a basis of rapport with the Coal Mining Heritage Association, and her students have developed extensive knowledge of the New River Valley mining history and archaeology through this research project. The groundwork laid here ­ knowledge of the heritage/archaeology considerations that are the foundations for this plan and the community relations developed ­ need to be infused in the successive stages of park planning. Many aspects of park development will provide excellent educational opportunities for students in applied anthropology and archaeology (from planning, to environmental work, to museum studies), and their work, in turn, will contribute to the county's efforts.

2. We recommend that Montgomery County also work with the Friends of the Huckleberry Trail in park planning efforts. The county may find that its plans for the park and the Amenities Plan for the Huckleberry Trail dovetail, making joint efforts at fund-raising a fruitful venture.

3. Maintaining the archaeological and historic integrity of the site should be a high priority. Archaeological survey on the south side of the Huckleberry Trail was done by state archaeologist, Tom Klatka, providing valuable information for park planning. We recommend that an archaeological survey of the north side be conducted soon, before trail development occurs on that side of the park. This will help to determine the locations of archaeological features, and enable planning designed to protect archaeological sites and to make use of them in heritage education. We recommend that Tom Klatka continue to be involved in the park planning. Similarly, this report recommends ways that Dr. Cliff Boyd and his archaeology students at Radford University could work in partnership with the county to further archaeological study at Merrimac.

4. The county is to be commended in its vision to create a park along the Huckleberry Trail greenway ­ the Merrimac park and the Huckleberry Trail will complement each other. Ways need to be explored to enable the park visitors and Huckleberry Trail users to coexist happily. While there is much overlap, there are also differences between the users of these two entities. The Coal Mining Heritage Park audience will include people wishing to stop and view the heritage and environmental signage and exhibits along the Huckleberry Trail, parents with small children, families coming for reunions and to hear music at the pavilion, and a fair number of elderly and handicapped visitors. We expect that these park visitors may encounter some accidental run-ins with high-speed bikers and skaters on the Huckleberry Trail, and we recommend that the county work with Friends of the Huckleberry to establish some rules for the Huckleberry Trail within the park boundaries. At the minimum, we recommend posting signs at each entrance to the park advising Huckleberry Trail users that they have entered a park and asking them to extend courtesy to slower pedestrians. We are hesitant to recommend that a separate path for park users be cut to parallel the Huckleberry Trail for its full distance within the park boundaries, largely because of the desire expressed by so many people to retain the natural landscape along the Huckleberry Trail as much as possible. We do, however, recommend that signs, exhibits and other activities be placed in a manner that will encourage park visitors to step off the Huckleberry Trail to view them. With precautions such as these built into the park planning, we expect that park visitors and Huckleberry Trail users alike will appreciate and make extensive use of the Coal Mining Heritage Park at Merrimac.