We applaud the Rosebud Mining Co. for stepping in to save the Windber Coal Heritage Center museum in Windber.
Its $250,000 purchase of the building at 15th Street apparently will allow the museum to resume operations.
“We are happy to help keep the center open for the community, and celebrate the hardworking coal miners that provide America with half of its electricity each and every day,” Rosebud President Cliff Forrest said.
Loss of federal and state funding and low attendance prompted museum owner The Progress Fund to put the building on the market and announce in December the museum would not reopen this season.
The news certainly was devastating to many.
That all apparently changes now, thanks to Rosebud.
Exhibits are expected to reopen within a few months.
We realize that Rosebud’s presence in the Windber-area community has not won the favor of some of the residents.
That’s understandable when you consider the dirt, noise – and, yes, the dangers – involved in the Kittanning-based company’s hauling of coal over Windber-area streets.
Along Railroad Street in Windber, trucks kicking up dirt and dust are leaving many cars black as coal, residents say.
On the other hand, we also realize that Rosebud provides quality, family-sustaining jobs for many.
The company will have enemies no matter what it does for the community. But we like to believe that its purchase of the museum building is a sign that it wants to be a good neighbor.
