The prospect of building the Juneau Ocean Center is enticing. What’s not to like about a venue that both informs and entertains locals and visitors alike?
We wish the JOC board nothing but the best of luck in making their vision a reality. We believe if the center was built Juneau would stand much to gain. But the JOC board needs to accomplish this without relying on financial assistance from the City and Borough of Juneau.
Year after year city officials list available, affordable housing as their top priority. Some progress has been made but not enough to catch up to the ever-increasing demand for more homes. If city and elected officials want to hold true to their word, then any available land, resources and money should go toward that cause and that cause only.
At present our city is looking to spend $300,000 for a study because we can’t afford to keep all our schools maintained, and it wasn’t long ago when the city nearly closed down the Augustus Brown Pool because of its maintenance needs and overhead costs.
Throwing money at a new $14.2 million tourist attraction makes no sense at this time (the JOC board hasn’t specified how much of the $14.2 million it would need from the city). Juneau must be able to pay for what it already has before tossing new money at another large project.
If cruise ship passenger head taxes can be used to help fund the Ocean Center we would feel differently. If that were to happen, however, the JOC might find itself mixed up in the current lawsuit between the city and the cruise industry over use of head tax funds to build the Juneau seawalk.
Make no mistake, we want to see the Juneau Ocean Center built — just not at the expense of higher priorities that will have a larger direct impact to the everyday lives of Juneau’s residents.
Related articles:
http://juneauempire.com/local/2016-05-03/moving-beyond-whale
