Milford Mine Park gets approval for first phase

The first phase of construction for the Milford Mine Memorial Park a few miles north of Crosby was approved by the Crow Wing County Board Tuesday.

The Milford Mine, west of Highway 6 and south of County Road 30, was the site of the worst disaster in Minnesota mining.

Forty-one miners lost their lives on Feb. 5, 1924, when the Milford Mine collapsed and flooded. For years, the site has languished in the past without a marker to identify it and public access to the hilly, wooded site along Island Lake was difficult.

Tuesday the board embarked down the path to change that as it awarded a contract to low bidder Holmvig Excavating for Phase One. The initial stage will put in a canoe access, parking area and access road.

The low bid of $170,076 was about 22 percent less than the engineer's estimate with $100,000 coming from the Iron Range Resources grant and the remainder from the county's park dedication fund.

In 2007, the board was presented with a concept plan for the park that listed a multi-year project with four phases. The goal was to identify the historic site, create paths and recreation opportunities such as cross-country skiing. Later phases were identified with the potential to create a main street walk exposing the foundations of the buildings near the mine that still exist on the site and provide photos to help visitors connect with the past. A solemn walk was discussed at the main mine shaft with the potential to plant 41 trees.

The Milford Mine disaster is believed to have begun when a surface cave-in of six or eight feet at the mine's easternmost end tapped into mud with a direct connection with Foley Lake, which was later renamed. The mine had a single vertical shaft to the surface.

The Milford Mine's shaft was 200 feet deep with the first level at 135 feet. On that afternoon of the disaster, men were working at the 165-foot to 175- foot level. Their first warning something was wrong was a sudden gust of warm wind that blew out the carbide gas lamps on the miners' hats or knocked their hats off altogether. The disaster fell upon them with incredible speed. Seven men made it to the top with the water rising nearly as fast as they did.

The memorial park is west of Highway 6 and south of County Road 30 near Island Lake and the Mississippi River. The mine's first shaft was sunk in 1918. Production began in 1923. The following year, the mine - owned by George H. Crosby - was reported to ship about 70,000 tons of mangan-iferous ore. The mine closed in 1932 from lack of demand for manganese ore in the Great Depression.

In other business, the board:

Approved a contract with Westwood Professional Services for a feasibility study for the Nelson Road railroad crossing in Nokay Lake Township.

Outlined the search process to hire a community service director since Susan Beck is retiring at year's end. The search committee includes Commissioners Rachel Reabe Nystrom and Paul Thiede, County Auditor Deborah Erickson, County Attorney Don Ryan, Administrator Tim Houle and Tamra Laska, human resources director. Steve Razidlo, Brainerd school superintendent, is being requested to serve on the committee as a community representative.

The county plans to advertise the position through Aug. 27 and then have a candidate selection subcommittee screen candidates before doing initial interviews to identify finalists for the board.

Board interviews of finalists are expected Sept. 28 with the hope that the new hire will attend a new director school in November and be on the job for a few weeks before Beck departs.

Approved lease agreements with the Soil and Water Conservation District and Thirty Lakes Watershed District for space in the Land Services Building on Laurel Street in Brainerd.

Approved seeking quotes and awarding work for a cooperative forest inventory contract project with the Cass County Land Department.

Met in closed session for a performance appraisal of Houle.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.