It was only open for a few years; yet the Park City Silver Mine Adventure, where visitors were lowered into the old Ontario silver mine to get an “authentic” mine experience, left a lasting impression – especially on the children lucky enough to become miners for an hour or two. At the Museum, we still field questions almost every week about whether the attraction is still open (and if we are said attraction).
Unfortunately, the Silver Mine Adventure closed ca. 1999. As I wrote a few years ago, there was no major story, no announcement – the mine experience just closed, never to reopen. Just like the Ontario Mine itself in 1981.
After that original story, a few more details have come to light, as people shared their memories of what happened.
The building continued to be referred to as the Silver Mine Adventure building for a few more years after the experience had closed (and not the Ontario Mine) – a testament to how popular and notable the attraction had become. It even hosted some other events, like film screenings and the Mountain Bikers Bash each year.
Several problems ultimately appeared to kill the Silver Mine Adventure. All three are based on people’s memories and testimony, with no archival confirmation as of yet.
The first issue: as an attraction inside of a former mine, the Silver Mine Adventure had to keep liability insurance up to date. Unfortunately, that insurance allegedly climbed year over year, trending in an untenable direction. This according to longtime Parkite and former Silver Mine Adventure employee Marianne Cone and several other locals with memories of the experience closing.
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Myles Rademan Collection
Problem number two was also cost-related. The Silver Mine Adventure operated every day, and – as mentioned before – was quite popular. With the constant flow of guests into the mine, the hoist cable for the cage (the mine elevator) wore out and was going to need replaced. A steel, braided cable over 1,000 feet long would have been incredibly expensive to replace, even for a successful business in a booming economy.
Issue three was an alleged self-inflicted wound. With its incredible success and reputation, longtime local Rory Murphy (who helped launch and run the experience) related in an interview that the Silver Mine Adventure appeared on the radar of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Six Flags decided to invest in or buy the Silver Mine Adventure and, as with all of its other holdings, open the business up to the stock market. Apparently, and unfortunately, Six Flags did not advertise their new holding, so when the Silver Mine Adventure launched on Wall Street, no one knew what it was and the stock fairly quickly tanked, making the local Park City attraction a casualty of the worldwide stock exchange.
Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, why the Silver Mine Adventure closed, it was a big loss to Park City. While the Park City Museum contains real mining equipment and hands-on mining experiences, nothing beats the real thing.