Reinforced cement applied to Morden Mine helped save the landmark from the scrap heap. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

lookin' good

Iconic 108-year-old mining structure restored

Mar 24, 2021 | 5:32 AM

NANAIMO — The most visible reminder of Nanaimo’s storied coal mining history is back to its former glory.

Crews recently completed stabilizing the 74-foot high mining structure at Morden Colliery Historic Provincial Park in South Wellington following a $1.4 million provincial government investment.

Friends of Morden Mine Society (FMMS) president Sandra Larocque is thrilled with the finished product.

“We’re very lucky to have this here,” Larocque told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Children and families can go out there and see what a coal mine was. It just brings it all to light for anybody that wants to look up the history.”

Larocque said reinforcing the famous head frame and tipple salvaged a beloved structure headed for certain demise.

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“It would have ended up being a big hole in the ground. The structure would have fallen down (and) the province would have had to clean it all up, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Visitors to Morden Mine can now get an up-close look at the restored structure. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Park visitors can now enjoy a more intimate view of the mining structure located off the east end of Morden Rd.

Perimeter safety fencing previously surrounding the structure was recently removed.

“People can actually go up and see it now, there’s not the big chain-link fence up there anymore. It’s all finished and it won’t fall down now,” Larocque said.

Lobbyists led by FMMS had fought for years to preserve the structure, one of the only cement mining apparatuses still standing in North America, but were continually rebuffed by the previous Liberal government.

Provincial money to restore the site was approved by the BC NDP government in 2019.

Morden Mine opened in 1913 and operated until 1921 when the operation went bankrupt, according to FMMS.

The mine’s headframe and tipple were used to deliver coal onto railroad cars.

Coal mining was a dominant force in the Nanaimo area economy for 80-years beginning in the late 1800’s.

Six hundred men are estimated to have died in Nanaimo area coal mining operations.

A heritage firm known for refurbishing the Kinsol Trestle in the Cowichan Valley and the Nanaimo Bastion structure completed the Morden Mine overhaul.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

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