SCRANTON, Pa. — This is the first time a group of people has emerged from the Lackawanna Coal Mine since October of 2019. The Scranton tourist attraction never got the chance to open for the season last year.
"Financially, it hurt. We usually do anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people in the summer, just in the mine itself. So that hurt," said Jerry Hubshman, director of Lackawanna County Parks & Recreation.
"It's been a tough road for everybody. The employees here haven't done any work in that long, so everybody's glad to be back," said Art Moran, deputy director of Lackawanna County Parks & Recreation.
Another welcome sign of the times: the tour guide telling his group before they go down into the mine, "I'm going to take my mask off, if that's OK. I'm fully vaccinated."
"People's mentality, it just makes people happier, it really does," said Moran.
Opening day at the coal mine brought back a family tradition for Paul Williams from Shavertown.
"My dad and my grandfather brought me about 25 years ago. And now I'm bringing my dad and my daughter and my niece."
Williams was looking forward to learning more about the area's rich coal mining history. He was worried his daughter Emma would be scared once they got underground, to which Emma promptly replied, "Daddy, I'm not being scared!"
Right now, the coal mine is only open three days a week, but the director hopes that by June, it's back open to its usual seven days a week.
"We decided to give this a try because my grandfather used to be a coal miner, so I thought this would be really neat to learn about," said Diane Hoffman from Bucks County.
"I think everyone just wants to get out of the house. And the employees, the commissioners wanted the employees back to work and people out of the house," said Hubshman.
Out of the house, and 300 feet underground.
The coal mine is open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.