Sculpture Dedicated to Coal Miners By Late Fall

By Michael Aubele, The Valley News-Dispatch, Tarentum, Pa.

Jul. 12–The monument that will memorialize this area’s industrial heritage should be complete and ready for a dedication by late fall, organizers said.

In an effort to update the community on the status of the project and plan remaining tasks, organizers with the nonprofit, Mining Memories, plan to hold a public meeting at the Harmar fire department next Saturday.

Already in place is a 5-foot-tall cement footer on which will rest the 14-foot-tall bronze statue of a lone miner working among the timbers and coal of a mine shaft.

Surrounding the statue will be large chunks of coal that feature smaller sculptures depicting community scenes.

Two memorial brick walls about 4 feet tall will flank the statue’s base. As a fundraiser, Mining Memories sold the bricks, which will be inscribed with personal messages.

The monument will sit in front of Harmar’s volunteer fire department at the corner of Freeport Road and Herron Avenue.

Louisville, Ky., artist Stephen Paulovich is in the process of creating the bronze sculpture. Paulovich is a New Kensington native who completed the statue of football hero Willie Thrower at Valley Memorial Stadium in New Kensington.

Paulovich is donating his labor costs.

The group is raising $70,000, much of which would go toward to statue’s materials and casting costs.

Paulovich is not as far along as he had hoped, since numerous other orders have come along which have demanded much of his time. President Bush and country singer Kenny Chesney, for instance, have commissioned Paulovich to create other pieces.

Paulovich, however, hopes to start gaining momentum on the Harmar sculpture.

“I’ll probably start making up for lost time,” he said. “I’m still shooting for this summer to get it to the foundry. And we’re still hoping by late fall to get it installed.”

Don Carlucci, who owns Cheswick-based Carlucci Construction, donated the time and materials — about $20,000 worth — for the statue’s footer.

“When I was a kid, everybody on our street worked in the mine,” Carlucci said. “This is my way of giving back. I know how important this is. It’s the type of thing that should be honored and commended.”

He said that when the monument is installed, “It’s going to be a treasure for the community.”

Without community donations of time, money and labor, there most likely wouldn’t be any prospect for having a monument installed, said organizer Jeanne Cecil.

“This is a labor of love,” she said.

Cecil said organizers are hoping the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will award them a grant of as much as $15,000 for the project.

Organizers already have landed a small grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, in addition to donations from community businesses, organizations and residents.

Cecil said organizers plan to offer a small scholarship in conjunction with Indiana University of Pennsylvania to the area high school student or students who make the most outstanding contributions to the project, such as improving the Mining Memories Web site or writing an essay.

Michael Aubele can be reached at maubele@tribweb.com or 724-226-4673.

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