Empire Archives is a series printed every Saturday featuring a short compilation of headline stories in the Juneau Empire from archived editions in 1985, 1995 and 2005. They include names, AP style and other content of their eras.
This week in 1985, the bear or not the bear, that is the question. While most of the 50-plus people at a Tuesday evening meeting said they wanted a bronze bear to replace the sculpture Nimbus in the State Court Building plaza, an equally vocal group backed a veterans memorial. Since it was put in the plaza in 1978, Nimbus has prompted many discussions of art — discussions that Carol Derfner, who heads the group choosing a replacement, said has been worthwhile. “If nothing else, this whole controversy has been good because it has people in the community talking about art, its value and aesthetics,” Derfner said. Most residents at the meeting said Nimbus should be erected near the Alaska State Museum, but stressed its location should be carefully chosen. Suggestions for replacing Nimbus at the court building ranged from a 14-foot dollar sign to a statue of the late Henry Lang, a local character.
Today a William Henry Seward statue stands outside the Dimond Courthouse in downtown Juneau, installed in 2017 after three years of fund-raising by a local planning committee to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Cession. In 2020 a petition unsuccessfully sought to remove the statue based on his holding of the treaty authorizing the sale of Alaska from the Russian Empire, which a petitioner said “represents the disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples…(who) didn’t sell their land to the U.S. and that wrong has never been corrected.”
Original Story: “Group bears down on sculpture decision,” by Debbie Reinwand. 1/23/1985.
This week in 1995, municipal officials are encouraged that residential construction is on the rise in Juneau, and some contractors and developers say it will be a busy year for construction. Applications for building permits for single-family homes, duplexes and apartments nearly tripled from 1993 to 1994 — from about 90 housing units to 252 units — said building official Chris Roust. The start of construction on the 67-unit senior apartment building on Willoughby Avenue accounted for about one-quarter of the permitted units in 1994. Fireweed Place is set to open June 30 with efficiency, one- and two-bedroom apartments for senior citizens. A state survey last summer pegged Juneau’s housing vacancy rate at 0.8 percent, the lightest in the state.
Today Juneau also is suffering a serious housing shortage and construction was cited in a recent economic study as one of the industries likely to see the strongest employment growth during the coming year.
Original Story: “Builders may be busy this summer,” by Jeanine Pohl. 1/24/1995.
This week in 2005, the cruise ship industry’s battle against a voter initiative to increase taxes and environmental scrutiny on Alaska’s cruise lines intensified Tuesday when 14 tourism groups filed a lawsuit to block the initiative from the 2006 ballot. The lawsuit filed against the state in Anchorage’s Superior Court accuses the Alaska Division of Elections of inadequately scrutinizing signatures collected during the cruise ship initiative drive last year. The initiative proposes new taxes for the cruise ship industry, including a $50 head tax on cruise ship passengers. It also would require environmental observers on cruise ships. At present, the city of Juneau is the only community in Alaska that charges a head tax on cruise ship passengers. One of the plaintiffs in the suit — the North West Cruiseship Association, representing nine major cruise lines that operate from Hawaii to Alaska — claims the new taxes and regulation would damage tourism in Alaska. Shortly before filing suit, the group hired a former Secret Service agent to review the petition’s signatures.
A $46 state head tax passed by voters in 2006 by a 52%-48% vote was reduced in 2010 by then-Gov. Sean Parnell to $34.50, with a $15 discount for ships stopping in certain locations.
Original Story: “Cruise group sues state,” by Elizabeth Bluemink. 1/19/2005.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
