Costly Californian tourism project scrapped
Due to escalating costs and safety concerns, a long planned underground tourist attraction in California has finally been scrapped.
The long awaited Empire Mine project in Grass Valley – which had been 20 years in the making – was halted in 2012 and has now been officially ditched by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Empire Mine in Grass Valley was the main focus of the Californian gold rush in the mid-1800’s and features over 367 miles of underground shafts, which over its 100 year life produced $8 billion worth of gold in today’s money.
Over $3.5 million had been spent to make the shafts structurally safe for visitors.
A 2012 inspection report recommended a further $1.4 million to repair recent corrosion in the mine, along with huge funds for long-term maintenance.
Superintendent of the park sector Matthew Green said revenue from underground tours would likely never pay for the extensive structural work and maintenance needed to make it viable.
Announcing the shelving of the project, chief deputy parks director Aaron Robertson said: "We just did not feel it was the wisest decision to spend additional dollars on a project where we didn’t know where the end was."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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