Vandals strike Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass a second time this week

Park officials and concessionaires found broken windows and additional damage Friday morning at Independence Mine State Historical Park at Hatcher Pass — the second act of vandalism to the historic site this week.

Stuart Leidner, superintendent of Alaska State Parks’ Mat-Su and Copper River Basin region, said that vandals broke almost every single remaining intact window at Independence Mine’s mess hall on Thursday night. He said the vandals may have broken an additional window on another building, but “as much as he (could) tell,” the new damage was concentrated at the mess hall.

“We had boarded up what they had broken, and then they came back last night and broke more, and kicked our door in — to the point of it’s nowhere near repairable,” Leidner said. “It’s completely destroyed.”

“I thought somebody was pulling my leg ... I walked down there and I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Earlier this week, park officials and concessionaires had discovered emptied fire extinguishers, broken windows and building damage at the historic site.

Maintenance crews are working to board all of the windows up this weekend, Leidner said.

The site used to have security cameras, but they were stolen prior to this week’s incidents, according to Leidner.

“We’re also going back and trying to assess that situation,” he said.

Leidner said he did not have an estimate of the cost to fix all the damage. Despite the vandalism, the park still opened Friday as scheduled.

The case is active and being looked into by Alaska State Parks law enforcement.

Anyone with information about the vandalism can call Alaska State Parks’ regional office for the Mat-Su and Copper River Basin at 907-745-8935.