NEW ATHENS, Ohio -- Efforts to save a piece of coal mining history in eastern Ohio are in the past after a local group gives up efforts to save the Silver Spade.

The giant shovel and unique piece of machinery will be dismantled -- but many are sorry to see it go.

The Harrison County Coal and Reclamation Historical Park was established as 1992 with its major goal to save and acquire the Silver Spade when it was no longer used.

But now that the equipment is no longer in commission, neither are the efforts to make it the centerpiece of a local museum.

The Silver Spade is the last of the large surface mining shovels, weighing about 14 million pounds and as wide as an 8-lane highway. It's taller than a 12-story building and was capable of moving 155 tons.

Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy owns the shovel, which was erected on the site in 1965.

After the shovel broke down in April, the historical group wanted to turn the giant shovel into a museum dedicated to eastern Ohio's rich mining history.

Claren Blackburn of the historical park said, "This would probably have been the biggest attraction in this area. This was an economic opportunity that has been lost."

Blackburn was hoping the Silver Spade would do for Harrison County what a similar machine, the Big Brutus, does for a small town in Kansas: attract up to 40,000 tourists a year.

Consol asked for $700,000 to cover the value of the machine if it were sold for scrap and another $1.6 million to reclaim the area. But the historical group could only raise $750,000 in cash, pledges and loans, coming up more than $1.5 million short.

Consol spokesperson Joe Cerenzia said if the park association was able to come up with the dollars, the company would have been able to work with them on the project.

Cerenzia said, "We just weren't in a position to spend that kind of money for reclaiming that area when we could have reclaimed it for far less without the shovel there. It's unfortunate (that the) circumstances played out this way."

Some residents said they are disappointed with the outcome as well.

"In America, they're willing to tear down too readily things that belong to the past," said Ted Fazzari of Tappen Lake.

Blackburn said plans are still in the works to build a park in the New Athens area dedicated to service mining, with a few pieces of the giant shovel.

She said the museum will receive the Silver Spade's bucket and operating controls to go along with other mining memorabilia.

-Renee Cardelli & Dino Orsatti, NEWS9