Donations, hard work, a partnership and a bit of craftsmanship were all it took to take the Auke Lake recreation one more step toward its eventual goal of a more fully realized park area.
“We’re really happy that Rotary can give back to the community,” said Julie Olson, president of the Juneau-Gastineau Rotary Club.
The project, building a pavilion at Auke Lake Park, was part of an effort to involve all local Rotary members in a joint project at least once a year, Olson said. This was accomplished with donations from a variety of sources, including Alaska Marine Lines, which transported the building materials from Icy Straits Lumber in Hoonah, Olson said.
City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation and local Rotary clubs worked together to put up the new pavilion at Auke Lake. (Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire)
“They way we like to do things is through partnerships,” said George Schaaf, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation for the City and Borough of Juneau. “They’re a bunch of doers, and they have a lot of talent and skill in their clubs.”
While CBJ provided the concrete pad for the pavilion, the Rotary members built the pavilion over two weekends earlier this summer under the supervision of project manager Eric Carver.
“This package was really easy to put together,” Carver said. “There are a lot of opportunities with Parks and Rec.”
Assistant project manager Nick Carver admires the new pavilion at Auke Lake, a partnership between local Rotary clubs and the Parks and Recreation Department of the City and Borough of Juneau. (Michael S. Lockett | Juneau Empire)
Carver said it took an average of five workers at any given time roughly the length of a weekend to finish the pavilion.
“I think it’s a great step toward completing the area here at Auke Lake,” Schaaf said.
The area, which currently houses a paved parking lot and public boat ramp in addition to the pavilion, is slated to receive paved footpaths to replace the current gravel ones, and possibly, Schaaf said, a bathroom instead of a portable toilet.
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.
