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The top of Mount Juneau is a world away from the town it overlooks.

Home to marmots and mountain goats, the summit's alpine view is a healthy reward to the hikers who persevere through a steep, difficult climb.

But the summit is also home to a backhoe, some shipping containers and an empty bunkhouse.

They are the remnants of Chuck Keen's dream to build a world-class tram to ferry people to the top and back.

But Keen's dream never materialized, and now Trail Mix, the nonprofit group that maintains Juneau's trails, has plans to hoist the equipment off the mountain and return Mount Juneau's summit to a more natural form.

"It doesn't fit in with the environment," said Trail Mix Executive Director George Schaaf.

He said Temsco Helicopters offered to lift the equipment off the mountain, and local welders said they would help break down the backhoe and shipping containers into movable pieces. Schaaf said the project is weather-dependent, and would require a few clear days.

"It's possible we might not be able to do it this year," he said.

Keen started work on building the tram in the 1970s. He bought land and obtained some city permits, but the projects became embroiled in questions about air rights over power lines and city requirements. Keen sued the city and lost, with the case eventually being reviewed by the state Supreme Court.

Karen Keen said she still pays taxes for the land on Mount Juneau, but gave up on the idea of building a tram after an alternate tramway was approved and built on Mount Roberts. She said she holds no grudges for what happened.

"It's old, it's over with, it's time to put all that behind you and move on," she said.

She said she's glad the mountaintop is being cleaned up, and said the land will likely be part of a public trust in the future.

But she said Chuck, a film producer and photographer who died in 2003, never gave up on the idea of building a tram.

She said her husband was a man with big ideas who wanted to build a tram that would put Juneau on the map. She said plans for the top of the mountain included a small hotel, a revolving restaurant and a chapel for weddings.

"What we wanted up there was something that was going to be just spectacular," Keen said. "Maybe God didn't want us to do it."

• Contact reporter Alan Suderman at alan.suderman@juneauempire.com.