On Monday, Upper Big Branch Miners Memorial Group vice-president Mike Gwinn told ILN that the plaza surrounding the monument itself should be wrapped within the next couple of weeks as long as the US spring weather continues to cooperate.

The stone veneer planned for all of the memorial’s walls were more than half completed and Gwinn said the plaza’s concrete floor was expected to be poured this week.

While work progresses at the memorial site, the group said it did not yet know when the monument portion, which is being shipped in segments to southern West Virginia, would be delivered.

“We had to make a change to the number of segments it will be shipped in, from six to eight, in order to be able to install it without having to use a crane so large that it would have had to lift the segments over power lines to install them,” he told ILN.

“The graphics team at Rock of Ages is still finalizing the art and text that will be etched on the monument as well.

“We are supposed to have the plans to approve sometime in the next few days.”

The group also expanded the UBB memorial site’s plans to include an interpretive signage area, which would be erected about 50 feet from the plaza.

“It will act as a gateway and an introduction to the UBB story for visitors that may not be aware of the details of the tragedy,” Gwinn said.

He explained it would also serve as a historical marker and a record of the events of April 5, 2010, when 29 workers died at the Raleigh County mine, as well as a timeline of the following days and an explanation of the science behind the explosiveness of methane and coal dust.

Gwinn said everything for the site, including the granite, should be ready by the end of spring.

A private dedication for the families and project funders will be held first and a public dedication ceremony will follow shortly after that date.

However, Gwinn said no specific date for those events had been selected at this time.

“[Not] until we get a better idea of when it’s going to be completed,” he said.

To date, the UBBMMG has raised $US684,000 for the project including a $250,000 contribution from new UBB mine owner Alpha Natural Resources.

Another $75,000 worth of gifts-in-kind in the form of materials and labor has also been received to date.

Gwinn said the non-profit organization would continue to exist even after the memorial was completed and any remaining funds not used for the construction itself would be earmarked for maintenance, operations and marketing.

The group is also planning scholarships to benefit students and the mining industry.