A Year Later, Funding for Sealing St. Paul Caves in Question

A year after three 17-year-olds died while exploring the Wabasha Street caves, the city is still trying to determine where it will get the funds to seal off the half-mile stretch of caverns. Patrick Dague, Nick Larson and Natalie Van Vorst died last April 27 after becoming poisoned by carbon monoxide in the man-made caves. The entrance they crawled through has been plugged with dirt and sand. City officials have pledged to lessen the dangers for other teenagers, but funding questions remain, said St. Paul Parks Director Bob Bierscheid. Bierscheid said state and federal funds are being sought, but specific funding sources haven't been identified. "We're working on that," Bierscheid said. "We're literally searching through every nook and cranny to find it." Early consultants' estimates indicate it will cost about $1 million to block off cave entrances between Wabasha and Ohio. Bierscheid said: "We hope it will be substantially less." The city has contracted with CNA Consulting Engineers of Minneapolis, which has surveyed St. Paul's 11 miles of bluff caves -- which are actually mines that were dug out in the 1800s. Leonard Krumm, a senior consultant and project manager for CNA, said his firm is waiting for the city to determine its funding sources before the real work begins. He said the project is in the design phase and hopes the work will start this fall. He said that eventually, landscape architects will come up with bids to redesign the bluffs and disguise the old cave entrances. Bierscheid said plans call for pulling out the temporary fill plugging the openings and using a special grade of concrete that hardens from moisture, which will then be covered. "We're confident this procedure will keep people out," Bierscheid said. City Council Member Dave Thune, whose ward includes the caves, has seen earlier attempts to protect the area fail. "Practically speaking, I don't know that we can cover, bury, block or concrete-over the caves as long as kids are curious," Thune said, pointing out that the soft sandstone is easy to dig around. Thune said parents need to call city officials when they hear about kids going into caves so city workers can "roust them out." Two 17-year-old girls died in 1992 near the spot where the trio died last year, and at least two other deaths have been reported in the caves. Colleen Dague, of Burnsville, said she's been anticipating the anniversary of her son's death. "The firsts are always the hardest," she said. "Maybe after this year it will be easier." Dague said she doesn't hold the city accountable, and she commended city officials for trying to make the caves less accessible. "It's the kids who made the choices to go there," she said. "They have to make choices and they can be fatal ones."