Three decades after the historic coal mine in Lynch played out and shut down, local officials are planning the revival of old Portal 31 as a Disney-like tourist attraction with animatronic miners and underground tours. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for Oct. 10 at 2 p.m.

Bruce Ayers, president of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College and head of a committee that oversees the Portal 31 project, said the components of an authentic tourist destination are already in place — most of the houses, stores, schools and churches built by coal companies in Lynch and nearby Benham and Cumberland are still standing. The exhibition mine follows a plan developed by Gerard Hilferty & Associates.

Ayers said animatronic exhibits in Portal 31 allow a fictional miner, the miner’s son and grandson to tell tourists about the evolution of mining. Ayers said the exhibits will be so realistic that visitors might think they’re seeing coal being mined.

Lexington mining engineer Steve Gardner, a consultant for the project, said visitors will be able to view the history of mining from the early 1900s when ponies were used to pull coal out of the portals to the modern conveyors used today. The tour will last about 30 minutes.

Gardner was responsible for ensuring that the mine poses no risk to tourists. That meant limiting tours to only the sturdiest half-mile section of the mine, installing a super-strength wire mesh across the ceilings to keep rocks from falling and drilling double the number of 4-foot-long bolts into the overhead rock to hold them in place. Tunnel walls have been covered with a sealant to permanently bind the coal and rock in place. Contractors also sealed off unused mine tunnels to keep methane gases out.

The final safety measure will be a metal-roofed rail car that tourists will ride through the mine.

Southeast Education Foundation spent $750,000 to strengthen the walls inside the mine. An additional $1.75 million in federal and state funds were used to develop the underground exhibits, which in addition to animatronics also includes a state-of-the-art audio visual presentation that cascades off the surfaces of a large underground cavern.

Tours and tickets are available through the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham. Call 606-848-1530 or visit www.kingdomcome.org for more information.