Vote for new site set for Oct. 28

COALPORT — Members of the Coalport Area Museum Commission voted unanimously to relocate the Coalport Area Coal Museum to a new site, as yet to be determined, at a special meeting held

Sept. 22.

Spurred by months of rumors about the imminent closure of the Coalport Community Building, causing the relocation of both the Coalport office of the Area Agency on Aging and the nursery school as well as the permanent closure of the Glendale Area Public Library, was followed by a letter from a borough council member notifying the museum board of the building’s official closure set for Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Commission was faced with this abrupt and difficult decision to determine the fate of the treasured community resource.

“We all had heard rumors of the uncertain future of the community building, but we were shocked to receive notification that our museum’s season was to be cut short, and with only four weeks’ notice,” said William Morrison, museum president. “There has been no official communication from anyone on the borough council until a letter was found on the table of the museum’s ancestry room stating that the date of the closure.”

The commission and a dozen members of the museum’s volunteer group heard Morrison’s updates of current building availability, potential sites for consideration of relocation, community support and outreach plans, and museum modifications to present a new look to attract youth and visitors who are not knowledgeable of the area’s importance in the history of the country’s industrial age.

Permanent closure was also discussed and rejected unanimously by the board due to museum’s influence as a community resource.

“It’s crucial for our group to preserve our community’s heritage, but we also need to focus on building new opportunities for the youth in the Glendale Valley to extent their own ancestry and collection of history for future generations,” Morrison said.

While no future site was selected at the meeting, there is interest in relocation to a more visible and convenient location, preferably on Coalport’s Main Street, for ease of access at a more welcoming location, allowing for walk-in traffic by patrons in a downtown recognized in 2000 for having 53 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Coalport Area Museum Commission was organized in 1991 with the support of the Glendale Industrial Development Association, and the Coal Museum has been a fixture in the Coalport Community Building throughout this time.

The once coal-centered museum dedicated exclusively to the early days of bituminous coal mining has grown into a repository of local genealogy, with a wealth of documents, photos, family history and other historical records throughout Glendale Valley which includes the five municipalities of Coalport and Irvona Boroughs and Beccaria Township in Clearfield County, and Reade and White Townships in Cambria County.

Richard W. Snyder II, museum curator since 1999, said, “If you, too, believe in the immeasurable worth of the Coalport Area Coalport Museum to continue its significant work as a civic and historical resource, I call upon patrons, community organizations and individuals, past benefactors and everyone who are able to make a monetary contribution to our museum to assist with the impending expenses that come with a move to a new site… It’s going to take an army of volunteers and sponsors to keep the items and stories of the area’s past alive through our museum.”

Anyone interested in keeping the museum is urged to contact William Morrison, CACM President, at 814-931-2577, coalportmuseum@gmail.com and Coalport Area Museum Commission, 961 Forest St., Suite 1, Coalport, PA 16627.

Hopeful for an inspiring response from the community, the Coalport Area Museum Commission will officially vote to select the site for the new location at the regular meeting set for Oct. 28 at a place to be determined.