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ENLARGE
Empire Mine park was socked in by clouds Thursday, but that didn't deter visitors, whose cars filled the parking lot before noon.
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ENLARGE
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Elizabeth Kent, of Nevada City, left, and childhood friend Susan Lastowski, of Springfield, Mass., decide where to go next while standing next to a stamp mill at Empire Mine State Historical Park Thursday.
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Frances Valadez had her Irish up Thursday when she learned the Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley might close to help balance the state's $24.3 billion budget deficit.
“It's a bloody nuisance,” the tourist said, revealing her Dublin, Ireland, roots. “I love it here. We come all the time.”
“It's very sad,” said Nou Yang, a nurse from Valadez's Yuba City convalescent home who was with her. “This place has history for the kids. I've seen a lot of field trips here today, and I'm going to bring my whole family back.”
How soon Yang will have to make that trip is uncertain. Earlier this week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the state park is on a list with 219 others slated for closure. South Yuba River State Park, Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park and the Donner Memorial State Park in Nevada County also are on the list.
No timelines have been set, but park supervisor Ron Munson heard earlier this week the parks could be closed on Labor Day.
It could be even sooner if California legislators don't come up with a budget solution by June 15, Munson said. That's the deadline state Controller John Chiang recently set to address the shortfall, warning the state will run out of cash by the end of July.
“I imagine we'll see some kind of decision fairly quickly,” Munson said.
“They can't close this place. It's the Empire Mine!” said Nevada City resident Elizabeth Kent, while admiring a stamp mill. “It's the most important historical location in Grass Valley. It's known throughout the world.”
“This place helps you appreciate the area,” said Susan Lastowski, of Springfield, Mass., and a visiting childhood friend of Kent's. “If they made it a nonprofit, it would take it out of the tax system, and you could save it.”
That's a solution that might interest Grass Valley Downtown Association executive director Howard Levine. He was in Sacramento earlier this week at budget hearings where others were trying to keep the parks open.
“No one spoke to closing,” Levine said, including Senate and Assembly members, who spoke more in terms of solutions to keep the parks open.
State parks director Ruth Coleman suggested alternative revenue sources and partnerships with local agencies to keep the parks going, Levine said.
“We just can't cry out, ‘Don't let it go away,'” Levine said. “If there isn't some kind of solution (to the state budget shortfall), it will be horrific. People won't be paid.”
With 108,000 visitors to Empire State Historic Park during 2007-08, who spent an estimated $100 each in the local area, western Nevada County's retailers and restaurants could take as much as a combined $10.8 million hit, Levine said.
His reasoning assumes all visitors to the parks are tourists, while Nevada County Economic Resource Council director Gil Mathew assumes only half are visitors to the area.
Closing the park “would be a terrible decision. The whole county could lose money,” said Nevada City resident Glenn Fuller, who said he has brought friends from Utah who wanted to see the park's mining history.
Fuller also bemoaned the educational loss, as did Bedford Lampkin, a volunteer at the park since 1991.
“Fourth-grade classes are learning about California history here,” Lampkin said. “There was just a bunch of them from Oroville here this morning.”
“You meet people from all over the world here. It's amazing,” said park volunteer Jerry Keyes, who was not working Thursday, but in the park with his wife, Jacque and their friend, Monica Bayless, of Malibu.
“We were just talking about how beautiful the grounds are,” Bayless said. “They could lock it up, but what would they do with it?”
“There won't be anyone to take care of it,” Keyes added.
State parks department spokeswoman Sheryl Watson speculated earlier this week that gates and doors may be locked.
While that would cut costs, she feared it also would leave the parks open to vandals and deterioration unless the public became stewards of the facilities.
“It's a bloody nuisance,” the tourist said, revealing her Dublin, Ireland, roots. “I love it here. We come all the time.”
“It's very sad,” said Nou Yang, a nurse from Valadez's Yuba City convalescent home who was with her. “This place has history for the kids. I've seen a lot of field trips here today, and I'm going to bring my whole family back.”
How soon Yang will have to make that trip is uncertain. Earlier this week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the state park is on a list with 219 others slated for closure. South Yuba River State Park, Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park and the Donner Memorial State Park in Nevada County also are on the list.
No timelines have been set, but park supervisor Ron Munson heard earlier this week the parks could be closed on Labor Day.
It could be even sooner if California legislators don't come up with a budget solution by June 15, Munson said. That's the deadline state Controller John Chiang recently set to address the shortfall, warning the state will run out of cash by the end of July.
“I imagine we'll see some kind of decision fairly quickly,” Munson said.
“They can't close this place. It's the Empire Mine!” said Nevada City resident Elizabeth Kent, while admiring a stamp mill. “It's the most important historical location in Grass Valley. It's known throughout the world.”
“This place helps you appreciate the area,” said Susan Lastowski, of Springfield, Mass., and a visiting childhood friend of Kent's. “If they made it a nonprofit, it would take it out of the tax system, and you could save it.”
That's a solution that might interest Grass Valley Downtown Association executive director Howard Levine. He was in Sacramento earlier this week at budget hearings where others were trying to keep the parks open.
“No one spoke to closing,” Levine said, including Senate and Assembly members, who spoke more in terms of solutions to keep the parks open.
State parks director Ruth Coleman suggested alternative revenue sources and partnerships with local agencies to keep the parks going, Levine said.
“We just can't cry out, ‘Don't let it go away,'” Levine said. “If there isn't some kind of solution (to the state budget shortfall), it will be horrific. People won't be paid.”
With 108,000 visitors to Empire State Historic Park during 2007-08, who spent an estimated $100 each in the local area, western Nevada County's retailers and restaurants could take as much as a combined $10.8 million hit, Levine said.
His reasoning assumes all visitors to the parks are tourists, while Nevada County Economic Resource Council director Gil Mathew assumes only half are visitors to the area.
Closing the park “would be a terrible decision. The whole county could lose money,” said Nevada City resident Glenn Fuller, who said he has brought friends from Utah who wanted to see the park's mining history.
Fuller also bemoaned the educational loss, as did Bedford Lampkin, a volunteer at the park since 1991.
“Fourth-grade classes are learning about California history here,” Lampkin said. “There was just a bunch of them from Oroville here this morning.”
“You meet people from all over the world here. It's amazing,” said park volunteer Jerry Keyes, who was not working Thursday, but in the park with his wife, Jacque and their friend, Monica Bayless, of Malibu.
“We were just talking about how beautiful the grounds are,” Bayless said. “They could lock it up, but what would they do with it?”
“There won't be anyone to take care of it,” Keyes added.
State parks department spokeswoman Sheryl Watson speculated earlier this week that gates and doors may be locked.
While that would cut costs, she feared it also would leave the parks open to vandals and deterioration unless the public became stewards of the facilities.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
