- 1964

In other occurrences, two surveyors were caught in a snow avalanche in March while they were working at the bottom of Snow Slide Creek on Thane Road. Both were thrown to the ground in the wind blast and covered with a layer of snow, but the pack stopped short of them. In August, a goat hunter was seriously injured in a rock slide in the Nugget Creek basin, which rolled him 500 feet down to the creek. Companions were able to summon aid and he was transported by helicopter to hospitalization. That same weekend, an 18-year-old youth was electrocuted after climbing up a power tower in the Sheep Creek basin. Rescuers were unable to resuscitate him.

The following month two people were lost in the woods, an 18-year-old boy on Mt. Juneau, and a 60-year-old man at Funter Bay. Extensive searches in both areas failed to find either person. Also lost in that period, a 36-year-old man was drowned when the skiff he was operating hit a submerged log and flipped the boat into the Channel near the end of the Thane Road. Prompt action by two nearby boat operators were able to save his wife and their three children. An accidental firearm discharge in October took the life of Juneau policeman, Donald Dull, 28, at the police station when he and another officer were dry-firing their service pistols. Not a year to remember in this regard.

Fires also hit the headlines, several quite serious. Two older buildings on Second Street were extensively damaged by a fire in May, thought to be caused by defective wiring. Three fire companies responded to the blaze, which employed the department’s new giant aerial equipment to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. December saw several fires threaten downtown. Mid-December a fire engulfed the Salvation Army and Harbor Leather stores on South Franklin Street and threatened the Juneau Cold Storage and other buildings close by. Strong winds stoked the flames as high as 70 feet, and the fire was finally brought under control by three responding fire companies, plus the Coast Guard vessel Sorrel assisting by pumping sea water onto the scene on the waterfront side. Two other smaller fires had just occurred several days before – one at a residence on Dixon Street, which was quickly extinguished, and another in an apartment house on Gastineau Avenue, which did cause extensive damage. To end the year, another major fire in downtown Juneau gutted the old J.B. Carroll Building December 30, which housed the offices of the Alaska Transfer and Storage and the Chilkat Fuel Company. Firemen battled eight-degree weather, which froze hoses and some of the fire mains, as well as the flames, but were able to put it down within several hours.  Glacier Valley Volunteer Fire Department was organized December 14.

Juneauites experienced quite a varied selection of arts, culture, and community events. Washington’s Birthday was celebrated in a unique Alaskan way when over 60 Tlingit dancers and participants from Klukwan presented original Chilkat Indian dances at the high school auditorium. The community also had a chance to learn about spruce-root basketry in a film shown by the local historical society in September, and view an expedition film to an abandoned Haida village shown as one of the Forest Service’s fireside programs in November. Community music lovers were thrilled by a special concert in July by the combined Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. Community fund-raising efforts to host the group involved months of work, but the performance was enthusiastically received and praised. Special soloist was Juneau’s own Walter Swap, a music student at Harvard. Juneau also received word in March that Sylvia Davis, a home-town girl, had made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York as assistant concertmaster of Leopold Stokowsky’s American Symphony and had been featured earlier in a television program with Stokowsky on the Art of Conducting.

Other notable community events included the ten-day visit in June of a delegation of Russian fisheries officials, who met with federal and state authorities to negotiate resolution of conflicts between Russian and Alaskan fishermen over destruction of crab fishing gear.  The Russians arrived on a sea-going tug, and hosted tours for residents. Before departing, tug captain shared a heart-felt message of appreciation of Juneau’s hospitality to them. In a unique fund-raising event, Juneauites Ralph Moffit and Dux Thompson performed a 5,000-foot parachute jump over the Channel as part of a Junior Chamber of Commerce orphan donation program in July. In September, a 30-member delegation of U.N. dignitaries arrived by ferry for a two-day tour of the Juneau area, part of a larger tour of Alaska.  The group toured area sights, met civic, city, and state officials for various informative presentations, and were hosted at several dinners. Local Rotary Club members provided their homes to the visitors for overnight accommodations. Juneau residents and schoolchildren had a unique chance to inspect the actual ‘Faith 7’ space capsule that carried Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper on his historic space flight last year.  An estimated 4,000-5,000 Juneau residents saw the capsule in an exhibit arranged by Gov. William Egan and the state Division of Vocational Education, before it continued north for additional public showings. The Gastineau Channel Centennial Committee in December invited residents to join in efforts to plan and develop projects and programs in 1967 to celebrate Alaska’s centennial anniversary as an American possession. A primary objective would be the construction of a new state museum.

Development in the Juneau area proceeded in several directions.  Construction of the nine-story, 300,000 square-foot federal building was proceeding smoothly and was scheduled to open next year. Juneau City Council approved a variance in the building code in April to clear the way for a proposed eight-story, 82-unit apartment building, “Tongass Towers”, to be built close by the new federal building (never built). New housing in west Juneau began after last year’s delay between builders and the city, in which builders claimed the city had not lived up its promise to put in utilities and streets. One of the city’s promises was fulfilled when a city waterline was installed across the Douglas bridge to bring water to West Juneau properties. Juneau’s newest motel-hotel, the 39-unit Driftwood Lodge, opened in June on filled-in tidelands along Willoughby Avenue, after the city won its case for claiming the lands in a federal court case last year.  A number of the units there were to provide housing for legislators during the annual sessions here as well as provide more tourist accommodations. Several new churches were being built or in planning stages, particularly north of Juneau city limits to accommodate area growth in that direction. AJ Industries won a court case against the state to acquire title for the 98-acre rock dump formed from tailings of the AJ mine, which would allow them to continue development on the property. Juneau officially named the two boat harbors north of the bridge as Harris Harbor and Aurora Harbor respectively.

Several on-going issues continued to surface in development planning. Urban renewal continued forward when the city received a large planning grant to apply to an area between Glacier Avenue, Gold Creek, the Channel, and Harborview School, which also tied into development of the Outer Drive between Main Street and Norway Point. At year’s end, 38 structures in the area were slated for removal, but the city and state faced the unresolved issue of paying fair market value for the buildings and relocation of displaced residents and businesses. Outer Drive design between 10^th Street and Norway Point was basically completed, with work proceeding on the inner area, as well as property acquisition. The state highway department advertised for bids for a new Glacier Highway bridge over Mendenhall River, to be constructed next year. Called the ‘Brotherhood Bridge’, it would be wider than the old bridge and would feature bronze medallions with the crest of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, symbolic of brotherhood. A large parking lot next to the river would provide a dramatic setting to view the Mendenhall Glacier against the mountains (now a popular tour spot to view a vivid field of fireweed in season).

In January, the Auk Tribe Council Association was formed to coordinate goals of Native village people and give proper voice to them in dealing with agencies. Immediate objectives included developing a sanitation committee to improve living conditions at the village. By May, several condemned buildings were demolished and several more being evaluated for the purpose. In October, the Bureau of Land Management announced that the village townsite entry was filed, a first step towards village residents acquiring title to their lots. This, in turn, would allow them to apply for various loans for property improvements, that had not been possible before without land titles.

Lack of downtown parking was a contentious issue between the business community, residents, and the city.  A representative of a large parking lot operation down south inspected the area, but concluded that investment by private operators would not be attractive, so proposals were offered in city meetings for the city to build a large multi-level parking garage at various locations near the city business core. A proposed election in May for a $2 million downtown parking garage was called off to allow further study of legal problems that the proposal unearthed.

Media communications continued to improve with several new installations for the local newspaper and TV stations. In July, longtime Juneau paper, the Daily Alaska Empire, changed its name to the Juneau Alaska Empire to reflect more local coverage. Earlier that month, the Empire had installed a new offset printing press and became the first Alaska daily paper to use the process.  It produced much sharper print resolution and color reproduction, a plus for advertisers.  In June, Beacon TV, Inc. fired up its new antennas and translator complex on top of the Mendenhall Peninsula to re-broadcast signals from KINY-TV for better reception northward from Northway Point. Subscribers would tune in on Channel 4 and should receive much improved television viewing all the way out to Tee Harbor. At the end of the year, KINY-TV itself installed a new $35,000 transmitter and antenna to further improve local television broadcasting.

In other area developments, Alaska Steamship Co. completed a major project to rebuild and modernize their dock and warehouse area to provide more efficient cargo service. AJ Industries began a three-year project to salvage equipment and materials from their mining and electrical generation properties, anticipating 50-75 jobs would be created for it. Juneau-Douglas Community College (established in 1956) became part of the University of Alaska system. The state health department closed the Lena area dump and plans were advanced to cover it over for a ballfield. Federal government listed the Juneau airport as the “un-busiest” of all FAA-controlled airports in the nation. Civil defense authorities announced in August that Alaska’s first emergency hospital for civil defense emergencies had received 22 tons of supplies and equipment to be stored and readied for use at the high school.

Juneau’s Alaska Army National Guard unit was re-organized in January and activated as the 910^th Engineer (Combat) Company with a full-strength complement of 102 men and 5 officers.  Recruitment offers emphasized training in and use of heavy equipment, communications, and maintenance. By May the company was up to 75 personnel, with plans to develop community projects such as a new community rifle range up Montana Creek Road. Juneau also received its first full-time Army recruiter in October when a recruiting station was opened up downtown. In Coast Guard news, the Juneau-based 95-footer patrol vessel CG-95301 was re-named “Cape Coral’ in a national directive to rename those vessels for easier identification and communications. Work had begun in August to construct a new building at the Subport to house group office, storage, and recreational spaces for vessel personnel and operations.

The Greater Juneau Borough passed its first anniversary in October after spending much of the year determining how to operate with the powers given it by state law. The most important functions included power to assess and collect area-wide taxes, and area-wide planning and zoning. Chairman Claude Millsap stated his determination to do the duty that voters had given him, but seemed to continually run up against questions not clearly stated in the state statutes and resistance to his decisions by the borough assembly, the municipalities, the school board, and citizens at large.

As a function of the new borough government, the Assembly passed an ordinance in June to extend its power over education and extended the area of the Juneau Independent School District to the boundaries of the borough. However, in taking that oversight, the borough and the school board collided about control of education finances. At year’s end, the board released control of its treasury to the borough, but maintained control of its bookkeeping and accounting functions. Growth of the area student population had been steadily increasing resulting in classroom shortages, so planning was in progress to add an addition the Douglas elementary school, add a new elementary school at Auke Bay, and to build a junior high school between the high school and Harborview elementary school in the next few years. Predicted enrollment increases also saw the need for at least one more elementary school and a junior high school to be built within the next decade.

Early in the year area residents voted on two bond issues for the school district – one for a proposed $600,000 indoor swimming pool to be located near the high school, and a smaller $55,000 issue for acquiring land near the Glacier Valley school for future expansion. The pool issue sank overwhelmingly, but the land bond was approved over 2-1 in favor. For the time being, however, the Juneau Volunteer Firemen presented a $20,000 check to the Juneau city council for improvements to the Evergreen Bowl recreation area and outdoor pool.  The money was part of the funds received from sale of the firemen’s ballfield to federal government for the new federal building site.

Juneau city operations continued independently of the new borough government, much of it having to do with on-going development associated with urban renewal, Outer Drive planning, downtown parking problems, and upgrading utility and airport operations. The city was coordinating with the borough, however, in determining a consolidation plan for tax collection, possibly sharing a city attorney until the borough gets more fully organized, and providing offices for the borough in the municipal building.  Mayor Lauris Parker reported that the city had removed no less than 109 sub-standard structures, including 11 in the Native village at villagers’ request.  The city continued to expand outwards when it annexed land south along Douglas Highway to Lawson Creek, extended the waterfront boundary past the rock dump to Snow Slide Creek and annexed Basin Road area.  By the end of the year, the council was proposing annexing various strips of land north to the airport, citing the benefits to property owners of receiving city services and having a say in city deliberations.

In October Douglas Mayor Mark Jensen gave an update on city affairs through that period. Work on upgrading the city water and sewer system had been completed, and the city’s general obligation bonds were less than $50,000, which would leave the city in excellent shape to establish a street repair program. The filled-in area behind the new boat harbor now had two baseball fields, which were being improved, and the harbor itself was being used extensively. The city had sold the old cannery building to Northwest Fisheries to establish a payroll and new waterfront activity. The city would repair utilities to the building and dock structures as part of the agreement.  It was also acquiring a block of land to build a new city warehouse, which could be paid for out of reserve funds. It was also considering annexing the land north to Lawson Creek and the Juneau city boundary. Both Juneau and Douglas city councils repealed their 1% school sales taxes now that the borough was collecting area-wide taxes for education.

Several notable achievements were made in the Juneau area sports scene. The high school ski team held its first national ski association sanctioned race at the Douglas Ski Bowl in January, The girls team swept the honors in the All-Alaska high school ski meet in February at Mt. Alyeska near Anchorage, with the boys team taking second place.  Later that month Juneau hosted the S.E. Alaska high school basketball tournament, with the ferry M/V Malaspina arriving Juneau with its first full capacity load of basketball teams, fans, and chaperones. The Thunder Mountain Ski Corporation, formed earlier to promote development of a new ski area in upper Steep Creek basin above the Forest Service visitor center, brought in a consultant to advise them on plans to access the basin with a gondola lift. His review positively gushed with superlatives about the site and its possibilities, and the Forest Service released a prospectus in the fall for developing a tourist complex in the area. Come baseball season, youth league groups scrambled to find enough playing fields for the increased number of teams, but were able to put together a schedule with Douglas, Evergreen Bowl, the airport, and Glacier Valley School fields. In May the Juneau Gun Club lost its access to a trap shooting area on an airport pond, due to lead poisoning of waterfowl from lead pellets from the pond bottom. Competitive boat racers participated in the first annual Douglas Island Aqua-Splash race to circumnavigate the island on 4^th of July.

Juneau area citizens were apparently quite law-abiding this year, as no major crime offense were charged by enforcement agencies here. Early in the year, however, Juneau Police Chief Pat Wellington pushed the city council to enact an anti-pornography ordinance directed at purveyors of such material, based on similar laws in other Alaskan towns. At the first public hearing of a draft ordinance, an overwhelming majority of over 60 citizens testified against it, citing concerns about censorship and questioning the need for such a statute. One case of reckless driving was noted by Chief Wellington as being “one of the most aggravated cases of reckless driving ever seen in the Juneau area” and the offender was given a year jail sentence and stiff fine. In February, Juneau patrolman Gene Moody jumped into the water off a waterfront dock to save a woman nine months pregnant who had either fallen or jumped from the dock. He was later awarded the Coast Guard’s Silver Life-Saving Medal for that action. Over in Douglas, the city tightened their dog rules to prohibit any dog from running loose.  AJ Industries, which owns the old Treadwell Mine complex, posted notice to prohibit any use of guns on their property citing a number of incidents of shots being fired at passing boats and aircraft from the old foundry area. The company also posted notice against unauthorized trespassing at their old mill site and other properties, which were being salvaged for reclamation. The year ended with Juneau Mayor Parker pardoning two jail prisoners the day before Christmas to release them from serving the rest of their short terms for “minor offenses.”

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