By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The remains of a bygone era, the historic coke ovens in East Carbon serve as a reminder of the area’s rich coal-industry history. Used to transform coal into coke for steel production, the beehive-shaped structures may soon find a second life under a state plan to purchase the land on which the ovens sit.
Requested by Rep. Christine Watkins, the bid seeks to purchase 181.4 acres in the East Carbon/Sunnyside area, preserving the land for public use and to “save the historic Coke Ovens.”
“I went to an East Carbon City Council meeting in 2024, and they said they’ve been trying to get a hold of the people that own the land. They wanted to get it, but they didn’t have the money to buy it. But they wanted to see if they could get it donated, but they hadn’t been able to reach them,” explained Watkins of the inspiration behind the bid.
“So I wrote a letter to the people there in New York, and they signed for the letter. So I kept waiting to hear back from them and never heard a thing, until November of last year, and they called me. I was in New Orleans at a women’s conference, and they said we are just in the process of finalizing the sale of all the land around this, but we have carved out 180 acres for you in Carbon County and East Carbon. And of course, they’re not going to donate the land, so we had some interesting conversations about the price … And so I said, OK, let me see what I can do.”
This led Watkins to search for grant funding for the land purchase, before ultimately approaching a colleague on the opening day of the state legislature to see if the state could purchase the land.
“I said, let me tell you this, let me show this to you. We need to buy this, and I know it’s a year where we’re cutting budgets, but we get a chance to buy this, and if we don’t, it’s going to be sold to the highest bidder and fences will be put up, and it’ll never be available for us,” shared the Representative.
What started as a plan to purchase the land quickly became something much bigger. “We added $25,000 to the request to pay the state Parks and Recreation Department to help us do everything that we need to do,” explained Watkins. “Now we’re just trying to get the land purchased. Whether it becomes a state campground or a state park, all of that kind of stuff is yet to be seen, but the Historical Society said that they’ll help us get it designated as a historic site, which opens up a lot of opportunities for grants.”
In total, the appropriations request amounts to $242,700.
As for a timeline, Watkins shared that the word on the funding request should be heard within the next two weeks.
“I just think it’s critical, and it’s kind of been a mission of mine ever since I found out about it. So I’m really excited about it.”