Empire Editorial: Ocean center shouldn’t gobble 6-ton whale

  • Thursday, October 22, 2015 1:01am
  • Opinion

A group of locals is asking for a 6-ton hood ornament. The problem: They don’t yet have a car or the money to buy one.

This is the situation backers of the proposed Juneau Ocean Interpretation Center find themselves in, and why the Whale Sculpture Committee is right to be leery about proposals to relocate the whale.

The idea of an ocean center is intriguing, and it feels as though Juneau would be the perfect setting for an 11,000 square-foot visitor center and maritime museum. However, given all the hurdles and moving pieces in its way, we’re not willing to bet a bronze whale it will ever happen.

Backers of the OIC need both land and money. Promises the whale statue will be in place at the proposed OIC site, where the Avista dock is now, by fall 2016 are too pie-in-the sky to be considered realistic.

It took the whale committee two years to secure the permits needed for the sculpture and seawalk to be built. The OIC would also need to get its permits and studies completed, and that is if it’s even able to acquire the land it needs from Alaska Electric Light & Power’s parent company, Avista, the City and Borough of Juneau and the Alaska Mental Health Trust. Those are all pretty big ifs, as is raising $13 million needed to build the center.

Bob Janes, who has given several presentations on behalf of OIC supporters, said having the whale sculpture is necessary in order for the OIC to happen. If having the sculpture is the deciding factor for the OIC, there’s a 27-foot hole in OIC’s plan.

The OIC should be able to stand on its own. If it can’t, it shouldn’t be built.

Detractors of the current seawalk plan and future home for the whale near the Juneau-Douglas Bridge say the whale will compete with the OIC if they aren’t placed together.

We’re not buying it.

These are some of the same people who say the whale’s bridge location will discourage people from visiting it altogether. The whale can’t steal visitors from the OIC if it has so few.

This appears to be more about a dislike for the whale’s location and last-ditch efforts to change it.

The Downtown Seawalk bid came in $3 million too high, and the project will go out to bid again because discrepancies on certain aspects of construction were as much as a $863,000 apart, with others still around half-a-million dollars apart.

Whale Sculpture Committee members are confident that the next bid process will be more in line with city engineers’ $11 million projected cost. If the bid again comes in high, committee members will look at cost reductions to the seawalk before asking the city for more money.

“We believe that the whale needs the OIC, and the OIC needs the whale,” Janes told the Empire in a previous interview.

On the contrary, the whale has money, land and a solid completion date. If handed over to the group proposing the OIC, it’s likely to end up with none of the above.

More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Another poison pill for American democracy

Among the “remedies” in the drug store known as the “One Big… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Don’t want to see Juneau turned into ‘Florida of the North’

I am beginning to notice that numerous very well-loved Juneau trails and… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Motor bikes not allowed in Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

Parents/guardians: Please inform your youth with motorcycles and small motor bikes that… Continue reading

The Juneau Assembly hears public testimony during its meeting Monday, June 9, 2025, at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Assembly set to mandate another complicated cumbersome voting system

In spite of dissatisfaction with the city’s unilateral decision to impose vote-by-mail… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: A tribute to the sun of Juneau’s music

First-time bass player Jacquelyn Davis spoke at a recent Saturday night “Homelands”… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Dispersed camping and trail users

When I came to Juneau over 30 years ago, I felt very… Continue reading

The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

Most Read