This June 2009 photo released by Southeast Community College shows animatronic miners working on a drill in Portal 31, a tourist mine in Lynch, Ky. (AP Photo/Southeast Community College,Chris Jones)**NO SALES*
(AP)
Joseph Marzelli is glad for the cheerful canary singing in the darkness of an Appalachian coal mine.
"As long as I can hear your song, I know I'm safe," Marzelli says in a heavy Italian accent as he explains the ins and outs of coal mining as it was done in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when miners used canaries as air monitors.
Marzelli is one of a crew of animatronic miners who greet visitors inside Portal 31, an underground coal mine that folks here have transformed into a tourist attraction.
In broken English, Marzelli, flanked by an animatronic coal-mining mule, shares his appreciation for his new home in America and a job that, at the time, was done primarily with picks and shovels and dynamite.
"Life is bellissimo," he says.
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Folks in this historic mining community share his enthusiasm after turning the old mine into the centerpiece for the budding tourism industry built around coal. Three decades after Portal 31 played out, they're hoping the mine that meanders for miles beneath Black Mountain will once again be an economic engine for Harlan County while also honoring the lives of the hard-bodied men who braved darkness and danger to eke out their livings in the Appalachians.
Local resident Terina Widner, daughter of a coal miner who was killed in an underground explosion near here, said she's convinced Portal 31 can be an economic boon for the community.
"It's very realistic," Widner said. "This is a golden opportunity. We now have the key ingredient to pull this whole recipe of cultural tourism together in Harlan County."
Widner and her 8-year-old son, Brett, were part of a group that boarded a railcar in early October for a tour through the reinforced tunnels.
"Keep your arms and legs inside," a voice reminds the passengers. "Remember, safety first. As you can see from the posters, it's our motto here at Portal 31. Always has been, since the mine opened in 1917."
With that said, the railcar begins to rumble down the tracks and into the darkness of the mine. It's so dark at times, passengers can't see the people sitting around them.
