- 1976
Alaska voters choose Willow November 2 as the site to build a new capital, contingent on a commission to determine the overall cost of a capital move and subsequent voter approval of the move and its price tag. Locally, Juneau voters overwhelmingly approved the Juneau Indemnification Act January 6, passed by the legislature last year. It would require the state to pay the difference between full assessed property values and the actual market price, should the bottom fall out of the real estate market because of the planned capital move. For the act to go into effect, however, the city had to re-appraise its full real property base, for which the voters had to approve the estimated appraisal cost, around $200,000. If the capital move failed to move forward, then the act would be void. (See 1982 for the final resolution of this issue).
Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC), Juneau’s private nonprofit salmon hatchery, began replenishing area waters with pink and chum salmon at their first location at Kowee Creek, Douglas Island. A proposal by Alaska Juneau Timber Industries, Inc. of Klawock to build two sawmills at the Juneau rock dump predicted early construction by next year and operation the following year, if permits and timber leases could be finalized. (This never happened.) Chances for a pulp mill to be built at Berner’s Bay grew dim by the end of the year. U.S. Plywood-Champion Corporation, which had announced their intention to do so in 1971, canceled their timber sale with the Forest Service in June and cited unfavorable international market conditions to consider further plans to build and operate a mill here.
Eaglecrest skiers at top of Ptamigan lift. photo courtesy of Mark Kelley in Juneau Portraits II, p. 91.
Municipally-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area opened in mid-December, covering 640 acres on Douglas Island, featuring 30-some trails, two chair lifts and a 1,400-foot vertical drop, as well as a lodge, rental shop, and large parking lot. The Last Chance Mining Museum, a major local bicentennial project, opened for a summer season in the old Alaska-Juneau Mine Compressor House in Last Chance Basin. The city also celebrated the nation’s bicentennial with the largest display of 4th of July fireworks in its history.
The assembly passed a resolution January 22 formally changing the name of the airport from Juneau Municipal Airport to Juneau International Airport, reflecting flights connecting with Whitehorse Yukon Territory. Air travel to and from the capital city nearly ground to a halt, however, when Alaska Airlines employees struck 26 days in the fall until final settlement was made in mid-October. Wien Air Alaska Airlines was granted temporary permission by CAB to make stops in southeast Alaska along its normal Anchorage-Seattle route. However, the CAB denied applications by both Wien and Western Airlines to add Juneau to their routes.
The new state Dimond Court Building at Fourth and Seward Streets was dedicated January 7.