Empire Archives is a series printed every Saturday featuring a short compilation of headline stories in the Juneau Empire from archived editions in 1984, 1994 and 2004.
This week in 1984, construction of a downtown parking garage could move one step closer to reality as the Juneau City-Borough Assembly meets to review four proposals for a waterfront parking garage. The proposals call for a multi-use facility on municipally owned land next to Juneau Cold Storage, and includes a parking garage, small amounts of retail space and an extension of Marine Park. A final decision should be made this month for construction to begin on schedule this summer, said Assistant City-Borough Manager Kevin Ritchie and Planning Director Tom Peterson. All four groups say the garage could be done by December, Ritchie said. The proposals have been developed since mid-January by four “design-build” teams that include architects, engineers, contractors and landscape architects. The city-borough has $3.5 million to go toward construction of a parking garage and is seeking an additional $3 million from the state, Ritchie said.
Original Story: “Assembly to review four parking garage proposals,” by Christopher Jarvis. 3/8/1984.
This week in 1994, the city-borough Assembly has asked Bartlett Memorial Hospital to evaluate whether it should take over services provided by the municipal Health and Social Services Department. The request has some mental health providers in the community upset, and opponents of the move are accusing the hospital board and Assembly of trying to eliminate the city department. Even the Assembly’s own social services advisory board is questioning the effort, which opponents say is a move by Bartlett to improve its financial health at the expense of the city department and private-care providers. The issue has prompted a letter from the commissioner of the state Department of Health and Social Services, warning that state funds for mental health services may be in jeopardy if the hospital takes over municipal programs, State law does not allow mental health grants for hospital-based programs.
Original Story: “Critics hit takeover plan,” by Jeanine Pohl. 3/3/1994.
This week in 2004, Alaska Marine Highway System employees in Juneau worry they’ll have to look for new jobs or move to Ketchikan as early as this summer, though no one has said why it makes sense to relocate the ferry system’s administration. The Alaska Department of Transportation, which has conducted an internal review of moving the AMHS administrative offices since last fall, refused to provide any information on the proposal to shift some 40 employees to Ketchikan. Potential savings have not been disclosed. This week the Ketchikan Gateway Borough sent a proposal to DOT to move the AMHS administrative headquarters to the largely vacant Ketchikan Pulp Co. building near Ward Cove. DOT has given ferry system employees little information as to why or when the move would take place and on Thursday Gov. Frank Murkowski said during a press conference he supports the move.
Original Story: “Department won’t disclose savings gained from relocation,” by Timothy Inklebarger. 3/5/2004.
