Starting this week, the newly renovated Douglas Harbor will return to full capacity after a renovation that’s nearly a decade in the works.
Boats will be allowed to return to Douglas Harbor — which will soon carry the name of Mike Pusich Harbor — starting Monday. Boaters will see improved floats and newly restructured walls, but one of the most welcome improvements will be what won’t be seen.
“Not that much will be changed,” harbor patron Erik Wiseman said, “except that when I look down at minus tides, I won’t see the bottom.”
The harbor was in need of dredging for quite some time, as during low tides, the harbor would get extremely shallow, as Wiseman said. Wiseman, who lives on his boat, said he was usually in a decent position in the harbor but he saw some others who were grounded on the mine tailings at the bottom of the harbor during low tide.
Docks &Harbors Port Director Carl Uchytil said it took eight years to get the dredging permits for the harbor. The process took so long that the funds Docks &Harbors set aside for the project nearly had to be returned.
The project — which came in at about $3.9 million, just under budget — was funded by a deferred maintenance bond that Docks &Harbors had and some money from a municipal harbor grant fund, Uchytil said.
Douglas Harbor will be officially unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 26. Mike Pusich, the new namesake, was a prominent member of the community after he moved to Douglas in the early 1900s. The Pusich family has been important in Douglas’ history.
A large portion of the family will be in town for Memorial Day weekend, so the ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled for that weekend. That will be the third ceremony of the month for Docks &Harbors, which is unveiling the new cruise dock May 5 and the new boat launch facility at Don D. Statter Harbor May 19.
Replacing the floats themselves was a major priority as well. The floats that the project replaced were built in the early 1960s and were far past their prime. Deputy Port Engineer Erich Schaal said safe access was a major focus of the project, as contractors both replaced floats and improved lighting in the harbor.
This phase of the project also reconstructed a safer gangway in place of a somewhat dangerous one. They used a repurposed gangway from the cruise dock, which now allows boaters to walk along it without concern. This phase of construction also finished a wall that was first built in the early 2000s.
Docks &Harbors used many local contractors for the construction, including Trucano Construction and Western Marine Construction. Especially with the dredging, these companies had to be very careful with Environmental Protection Agency requirements and permits. Uchytil and Schaal were impressed with the way the contractors satisfied the requirements.
Schaal also noted that this phase of the project as a whole went fairly easily.
“It went very smoothly,” Schaal said. “The weather wasn’t too horrible down there. Not too many Taku wind days, not too much iciness. On an average winter, a lot of those floats are covered in sea spray, so it wasn’t too bad.”
Much of the dredging and construction was done in the past few months, which displaced many patrons. Accommodations were found for them far in advance, but many are itching to return.
Wiseman, who made sure to mention multiple times how impressed he’s been with the way the Docks &Harbors staff in Juneau takes care of its facilities and its patrons, said via phone this weekend that he’s ready to return.
“I’m real excited,” Wiseman said. “I can see it right across from me now and I can’t wait to get there.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com or 523-2271
