The collapsed Daly West Mine Headframe structure at the base of Empire Bowl at Deer Valley Resort is moving, but it won’t be going far.
The historical steel headframe, used to hoist material from the mine shaft below, was built in 1914. The Park City Historic Preservation Board approved Deer Valley’s application to move it at its meeting Wednesday.
It was enclosed in a shaft house, which covered a 1,600-foot deep mine shaft. The shaft house burned on Easter Sunday in 1974 – leaving only the steel headframe intact. Then, in May of 2015, after a particularly heavy snowfall that winter, the Daly West headframe toppled due to the collapse of the shaft below it.
Mining officials have safely capped the seal and fenced the area while allowing airflow to Park City’s water supply tunnel located below the shaft. The headframe is located between the Empire Express chairlift at Deer Valley Resort and the Montage Deer Valley hotel where it has remained in its collapsed state since.
The headframe belonged to the Jordanelle Special Services District, which sold it to Deer Valley Resort this year. The resort will move the structure uphill about 150 feet southwest of the historic site.
Both the city’s chief building official and planning director supported the move, saying the only way to re-erect, repair and preserve the headframe was to move it. They also don’t believe that moving it 150 feet diminishes the historic character of the site nor the structure.
