The parties estimate the project could create 300 full-time jobs and attract thousands of visitors if it gains the support of the community, finds funding via investors and passes the planning and approvals process.
At the moment, Alcoa is seeking community feedback about the proposed rehabilitation of the shuttered coal mine and power plant, which would be turned into gardens surrounding a giant lake.
The non-profit organizations has experience in this matter as it has already turned a former quarry in Cornwall, England, into a series of gardens that feature large domes, known as biomes. That attraction has attracted more than 20 million visitors in the past twenty years.