By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Developer seeks stories, with plans to be unveiled for mine site park

Feb 9, 2018 | 8:33 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The developer of a north Lethbridge neighbourhood hopes to incorporate a piece of the city’s coal-mining heritage. And it wants your help.

Plans are in the works for stage three of Legacy Ridge, which will envelop the site of the Galt No. 6 mine. Melcor Developments intends to turn the site into an interpretive park, incorporating the three above-ground structures that have stood at the site since the mine closed.

“This park was worked into the design of the neighbourhood, and has been for quite some time, probably since the early 2000s when the outline plan was completed and approved by the city,” Perry Neufeld, Melcor’s regional manager, explained in an interview. “Part of it was having council designate it as a historic site, municipally, and since that time, that kind of kicked off the ball rolling to subdivide the site, to get a little bit more into the detailed vision of the site, and now we’d like to share that with the community.”

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The mine was in operation from 1908 to 1935, and the neighbouring community of Hardieville, now part of Lethbridge, grew up next to it. Following the mine’s closure, the tipple was moved across the river to the No. 8 mine, and is one of the structures visible on the west river bank.

Three aging structures on the No. 6 mine site east of the river are still visible from a nearby park and alleyway. Neufeld said the work will include making the site safe, and then incorporating it into a pathway system. He said interpretive signs will also be used.

“There’s some great learning opportunities that will be in that park, and people will be able to see what the mine looked like originally, and then be able to see what those remnant pieces looked like today,” he said. He explained Melcor has always understood the significance as part of the area’s mining history, and the company wanted to make the site part of a regional destination.

An information session is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 13, at which a concept plan will be unveiled. But Neufeld said planners also want to hear people’s stories, which can be added to the interpretive displays. That could include former residents of Hardieville or their descendants. Neufeld stressed they especially want to hear the stories of women who played a role in the mine, in keeping with the Legacy Ridge neighbourhood’s theme.

“We’re trying to update everybody on what’s happening, and this historic site, and what we’re going to do to develop it and when it’s coming on,” he said. “But we also like to make it a bit of a celebration. If they can come out and share some of those stories if they have any, and we’re going to have the Lethbridge Historical Society on site, and we’ll have people ready to talk or record, because a lot of times we might be able to get something there that will help tell the story even better. That’s really what we want to do.”

The information session is 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Teresa of Calcutta School on Mildred Dobbs Blvd. N.