“A fertile or green area in an arid region.” “Something that provides refuge, relief or pleasant contrast.”
Those are the definitions of oasis as per Merriam Webster. Telephone Hill is our green refuge in an arid region, our relief and our pleasant contrast.
If we were to lose Telephone Hill, we would suffer terribly. We would have a gray sea of rectilinearity there with no relief or contrast, dominated by straight lines and right angles.
I learned the word rectilinearity when researching this article. I just have to use it here. It is unnatural for people to be surrounded solely by concrete, straight lines and right angles. All that becomes bearable and even attractive if offset by greenery and a peaceful space in which to walk quietly. My friend Joe Karson, a Telephone Hill resident working to save it, compares Telephone Hill to Central Park in New York. New York would not dream of razing Central Park, yet Juneau is planning to do just that very thing to our Telephone Hill refuge and park in October.
There is no buyer for the land, so this is demolition without a plan. It would leave a brutal gash in our landscape. What was once transcendent beauty would be dark and ugly with no end in sight.
The destruction and construction would take so long and be so disruptive that people who work in the area would suffer from the ugliness and sadness. I believe to my core that it would make some legislators want to move the capital.
The difficulty of construction in such a small area would be horrendous. The space is hard to access. Consider the steep hill going up to the only street. The street, Dixon, would have to be widened to be up to code, as already approved.
For a good cause, heavy machinery, vibrations and noise are tolerable, but the cause here is to destroy housing and replace it with other housing. The new apartments are supposed to be affordable, but the site would be so expensive to develop that they would have to be expensive. However, if the old houses are kept, new housing could be added easily. Apartments in certain spots could blend in just fine.
The acreage that could be developed is far less than first thought. The original blueprint says about 4 acres are available, whereas diagrams done recently show that only about 1 acre can be developed. Does it make sense to go through so much disruption to develop an acre or so of land, when there are other places in Juneau easier to build new housing?
People call Telephone Hill the green heart of Juneau. It would be suicidal to rip out our green heart. We have lost so many of our beloved spots in recent years that it would create too much sadness to destroy our our beloved refuge.
Telephone Hill needs to be a protected historic neighborhood. Telephone Hill has the oldest house in Juneau. The houses have been inspected and are in good shape.
When one walks through Telephone Hill, one feels transcendent peace and joy. It is beauty created and given to us by our pioneers, and it would be a sin to destroy it.
Tourists love Telephone Hill. They are drawn there by the winding path from the transit center and charmed when they get there.
Telephone Hill is an artsy neighborhood. Studies show that the arts add tremendous economic value to communities. Just think of how the town comes out on Gallery Walk. Telephone Hill is brimming with creative energy. One resident, John Ingalls, can even be seen outside making flutes. Two of his flutes are in the Smithsonian.
The residents, our friends, are to be evicted Oct. 1 if the City does not change their minds. We are having a Rally to Save Telephone Hill on Aug. 16. Please come for a walkabout through Telephone Hill! Music and fellowship will add to the energy.
I am praying. Please, City Assembly members, come to our rally. Come experience the vibrancy. Please reconsider and allow our green oasis to continue to exist.
Page Bridges is a member of Holy Trinity Church.
