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The Harlan County Chamber of Commerce heard from Portal 31 Project Manager Ed Harris, who, along with Tim Creed of CED Construction Group, brought the chamber up to date on upgrades being made to Portal 31, an exhibition coal mine attraction located in Lynch.

“How many of you have been through Portal 31?” Harris asked. “Well, forget everything you saw. We’ve really done a lot of improvements.”

According to Harris, the updated attraction will be a world-class experience.

“Everything’s 20 years newer,” Creed added.

Creed pointed out that technological advances impacting computers and video have allowed for many impressive upgrades to the Portal 31 tour experience.

Some parts of the attraction’s presentations will be familiar to those who have visited the site previously.

“We’re keeping the same content matter in almost all of the mine,” Creed said. “The animatronic presentations are the same. The lighting has been upgraded.”

Following the Chamber meeting, Creed provided additional information on the time frame for the Portal 31 upgrades.

“We’re within weeks,” Creed said. “We’re getting ready to go in and start programming next Monday. Honestly, you don’t know how long that’s going to take until you get into it.”

Creed mentioned that the upgraded experience will greatly improve from the previous offering.

“It’s much better,” Creed said. “It’s amazing what a huge attraction it is.”

Harris mentioned funding for the upgrades was obtained through an AML grant.

Creed explained why working on the project has been an enjoyable experience.

“It’s a ride,” Creed said. “We usually do museums, stationary theaters. Being able to ride through it is really good. I always like a technology challenge, and it’s a technology challenge.”

The Portal 31 website features a history of the Lynch community.

“In 1917 the U.S. Coal & Coke Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, built the community of Lynch, Kentucky, then the world’s largest coal camp,” states the Portal 31 website. “The coal camp was built on part of the 19,000 acres the company had purchased in the southeastern tip of Harlan County, near the Virginia border. The Lynch camp’s population peaked at about 10,000 persons but the reported figures vary because of the transient nature of the miners and their families at that time. One thousand company owned structures provided housing for people of 38 nationalities, the most prominent of which were Italian, Spanish, Czech, Polish, English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish. By the 1940s this mining complex employed more than 4000 persons above and below ground.”

For more information on Portal 31, go to www.portal31.org.