Huber Breaker in Jeopardy

Apparently the private owner of the Huber has sent a ultimatum, deadline is set for Dec 7th and could determine the fate of the Huber in Ashley. Apparently he's not happy with what is being offered and from what I've read he's certainly not asking too much. Scrap steel is at an all time high according to the article and if his demands aren't met that may be the fate of the Huber, hopefully they will get something worked out because once it's gone there won't be anything left to replace it.

If you're unfamiliar the Huber is a massive facility and according to http://huberbreaker.org/home/home/ is the largest anthracite coal breaker ever built. There are plans to turn it into a museum, hopefully things will work out.

ASHLEY – Plans to transform the Huber Breaker into an anthracite history museum will go on the scrap heap if its owner accepts an offer to dismantle the mammoth structure to recycle its steel.

No. 1 Contracting Corp. has given a county agency seeking to preserve the vacant structure until Dec. 7 to sweeten its offer for the 68-year-old coal-processing plant, touted as the centerpiece of a proposed $9 million museum and park complex.

More here:
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Very sad.....

I think it would pay tremendous respect to our regions history to turn the Huber into a museum. So much of "then" is gone today....and with each generation, fewer and fewer stories are passed on.

Gary in Pennsylvania wrote: So much of "then" is gone today...

Well that's the thing, It's the only one left at least in this area. Being that it's "newer" and so large it's a perfect canidate for preservation. Hopefully they'll get things worked out. I know in the Citizen's Voice they mentioned they already have $250,000 to start with but until it's out of private hands there isn't anything they can do with it.

Update on Huber 01/08/2007. A good read, expecially the secetion where an old Huber worker talks about when he worked there.

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The Huber is to be saved:
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Commissioners unanimously voted to take control of the Ashley landmark through eminent domain. That ensures the owner – Al Roman of No. 1 Contracting – receives a fair price and does not sell the breaker for scrap as he recently threatened, county officials say.

Glad to see it's going to be saved but I hope the man who now owns it gets a fair value for it as he should. I was never a big fan of eminent domain especially the way it has been abused in the past particularly by large private corporations for their own benefit. It's always been position that it should only be done for public works projects such as bridges, roads, schools etc. This is borderline as it is something that is public but forcefully taking someones land is not something that should be done lightly.

I like the owner's original suggestion......If I give Huber to commissioners, you guys give me a nice sized piece of land nearby. That way, when Huber is restored to glory, the land value goes up significantly and the owner could sell it for a handsome profit ( or develope it )

Apparently the land he wanted either wasn't available or thought to be more valuable than what they thought the breaker was worth. Whatever the case I really hate to see eminent domain used, they are doing the same thing to another guy in Wilkes-Barre.

The short version is there is a old hotel called the Sterling which in it's heyday was the cat's meow. Anyhow it started going downhill in the late after the Agnes flood, turned into apartments in the 80's or 90's and finally closed in the late 90's. In the meantime somewhere in there the owners had sold the parking lot to another person, now they are redeveloping it and you guessed it no parking lot.... The current owner wants X amount and the private "non-profit" that is trying to purchase it doesn't want to pay so they went to the city and the city is now trying to take it through imminent domain.

IMO this is an abuse, regardless of the entities "non=profit" status someone is making money.... Add that to the fact they are taking a parking lot to make a parking lot. Not very fair at all.

"This is borderline as it is something that is public but forcefully taking someones land is not something that should be done lightly"

I agree, as much as i'd like to see this be saved, taking it by imminent domain is not what i'd like to see happen.