Status of Mollie Kathleen Tourist Attraction Still Unclear
Rick Langenberg
Photos By Cindy Valade
“Go Cubbies” and “Go Chicago Bears.”
And don’t forget your family, friends and our historic traditions, when tragedy strikes. And we are a community that comes together to take care of our own, regardless of the hurdles we face on a daily basis.
These were some of the themes dominating an emotional celebration of life ceremony and historic procession, held recently for Patrick Weier, a former tour operator of the Mollie Kathleen Mine. Weier died in a fatal accident at the attraction, reportedly involving a faulty elevator door, while 23 other tour patrons were successfully rescued. It was an incident that grabbed national news headlines for nearly a week.
The Patrick Weier ceremony and memorial celebration, held on Oct 17, featured a rare procession, extending from the Cripple Creek District Museum to the city park, straight down the main street, and involving hordes of community leaders and hundreds of participants. In fact, the procession-goers, even included several of CC’s main ambassadors, donkeys from the town herd, manned by the Two Mile High Club. The donkeys were part of a hefty procession army, including key veteran organizations, emergency responders, elected officials, local residents and family members and friends of Patrick Weier, who marched down Bennett Avenue in a somber but determined fashion.
Leading the march was Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams and the American Legion Post 1980, as part of a 100-year-plus tradition in honoring the victims of mining tragedies in the district. Cripple Creek Mayor Annie Durham was also part of the lead procession.
But more than anything, the procession and ceremony concluded a week- long mourning period for an area resident, following an incident that captured national attention and practically rivaled the hurricane disasters in Florida for consistent nightly news coverage.
For a change, long-time friends and family members of Patrick Weier from Arizona and Illinois, where he spent many years, partook in the ceremony with a bombardment of light-hearted stories and reflections that were similar in tone to many of the experiences that those in the community had with Weier.
Patrick Weier was described as an extremely unpretentious and loyal friend, who loved his job, community and served as a model father. At the same time, his love for football and baseball was stressed, along with his passion for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears.
In fact, one speaker, admitted plans had been in place for them to attend a Bears’ game in Arizona.
“Go Bears and Go Cubs” were familiar chants during the ceremony by long-time friends.
In some ways, the stories offered a more natural, grassroots look into the life of Patrick Weier. He was referred to affectionally as ‘Patty’ and many stories offered insight into why he was so popular locally. Weier was revered in Victor and was on the verge of being deployed as a member of the local CC volunteer fire department after completing extensive training.
But most lauded his qualities as friend, father and his ability to get people together for fun times. They also admitted ‘Patty’ enjoyed good times himself. “To know Patty was to automatically consider him among your closest friends,” said Jeremy, one of Patrick’s friends that spoke at the ceremony. “Every man on earth would be wise to follow Pat’s lead as a father, as a brother and as a friend. If you knew him, he was in your Mount Rushmore of friends…There was nothing about him that was halfway.”
“He was who he was,” said another long-time friend, who referred to himself as Teal. “There was no discrepancy between who Patty was and who he wanted to be.”
Teal admitted this was a unique characteristic of Weier and a reason why he never had to apologize for anything he did.
The unpretentious style of Patrick Weier was a common theme, dominating the recent celebration ceremony.
John Paul admitted that he was somewhat surprised by his brother’s decision to move to Victor and Teller County, noting they were “city boys.”
But after visiting the area on many occasions, he said began to understand Patrick’s love for Teller County. He also lauded the community support he and their family has received, following the fatal accident at the mine. “I always loved coming up here but having this (the memorial) happening, it makes total sense. This was the place for him to raise his son. The community here is special and you should all feel very proud of your community.”
John Paul also gave an insight to their love for sports, conceding they started playing tackle football together in an old corn field, and “played rough.”
The ceremony mostly featured comments from friends and family members from outside of the community.
Mary Bielz, a legendary figure in the local community due to her involvement with Community of Caring and the Aspen Mine Center, made a few emotional comments and sympathized with the despair many were experiencing. She urged everyone to stay strong in the wake of this tragedy.
Durham served as the mini-MC of the gathering, and often had to hold back tears. Throughout the week, she and Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell often commanded center stage. The Cripple Creek mayor described the community as extremely close-knit and one that took care of their own and banded together when they confronted natural disasters or tragedies.
And even though many may not have known Patrick Weier personally, she described the response to the tragedy as unprecedented.
The ceremony was widely attended by area residents, community leaders, emergency responders and law officers. Many were spotted hugging each other at the event starting point, in the Cripple Creek District Museum and CC/Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad parking lots.
Status of Mine Re-Opening Still Unclear
The exact day of the ceremony, a report was issued by the main state agency, overseeing mining operations.
The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, announced that no concerns were raised from prior safety inspections at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. But the agency acknowledged that a cease-and-desist order had been issued to the attraction owners, indicating the site had to remain closed until a full investigation regarding the latest incident was concluded. The Mollie Kathleen actually had already closed for the season, but it’s unclear about its re-opening status.
The Mollie Kathleen has been one of the city’s prime tourist attractions for decades. The mine reigns as the only site in the state that uses a personnel hoist as an elevator. It’s not clear if changes will have to be made in their current operations.
Still, the attraction has received high marks by city officials.
At one time, about 20 or so years ago, the area was even eyed by head city and marketing officials as an ideal spot for a mega heritage tourism attraction and expanded operation of Mollie Kathleen. That plan, which some even labeled as a Williamsburg-like pursuit of efforts to showcase the gold rush era, never quite materialized. However, it appeared to plant the seeds in the minds of many community leaders at the time for pursuing plans for more heritage tourism opportunities in Cripple Creek. For years, concerns have been expressed over the city’s reliance on gaming revenue to survive.
The Mollie Kathleen also gained much allure in recent years with its location, right across from the Cripple Creek Heritage Center, and at the base of renewed mining activity in the Cripple Creek area by the CC/V Gold Mine’s Cresson operation.
