- 1978

Tourist attractions expand – tourists rafting Mendenhall River, with Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenhall Towers in the background. photo courtesy of Mark Kelley in Juneau Portrait II, p. 34.

The FRANK initiative (Fiscally Responsible Alaskans Needing Knowledge) was passed by Alaska voters November 7, which asked that all costs of moving the capital be disclosed and accepted by Alaskans before the project began.  A second bond issue, which asked voters to approve $966 million in debt for capital costs of a new capital city in Willow, was resoundingly defeated. The final price tag (including all indirect costs), however, hadn’t yet been determined, which needed to be approved by voters before the capital move could take place.

KTOO-TV signed on to the air  October 1 as the first public TV station in southeast Alaska. Local high school biology teacher and private whale researcher Chuck Jurasz was hailed as a major contributor to an NBC TV special “Gentile Giants of the Pacific“, which drew from his eleven years of research in the area.  Jurasz claimed that experts had described the film as the “most descriptive” piece ever done in terms of whale behavior.  The program was aired on local TV January 7.

The Alaska Hotel in Juneau was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. A new fire hall was constructed at Ninth Street and Glacier Avenue and dedicated November 16. Marine Park opened downtown along the waterfront.  A bike and pedestrian path was added alongside the Loop Road from the highway intersection out to the glacier visitor center. Flags of all 50 states were flown for the summer tour season along Egan Drive for the first time by Friends of the Flag, and are now flown annually.