At the urging of the mayor, Travel Juneau, the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for a New JACC met together in early 2020 to embark on a new vision: to merge the proposed New JACC with the existing, upgraded Centennial Hall to create the multipurpose combined facility now known as the Capital Civic Center. Despite significant delays caused by COVID-19, the idea was gradually developed and refined, and the Assembly approved the conceptual design in January of 2025.
The Capital Civic Center will be an economic driver for Juneau, starting with the many jobs created by the construction of the facility itself. Once in service, it will create economic stimulus for Juneau, i.e.: more conventions and meetings; more activities for the populace; more arts and culture events; and a significant amount of related hotel and restaurant activity (over 35% of the events held each year bring people in from out of town). Finally, there are the economic benefits of making Juneau more attractive to young people, who are key to the future of this community.
Unlike the Anchorage Performing Arts Center, which was conceived and designed solely as a venue for performing arts, the Capital Civic Center will be a multi-use facility. For example, it will welcome residents to local events such as wedding receptions, birthday parties, and memorials. For large meetings and conventions, it will offer more breakout rooms and trade show/exhibit space. The Coast Guard will likely use it for training purposes and ceremonial events, since it is so conveniently close to their dock.
Last year, dozens of events were cancelled or not booked because our facilities were unavailable, too small, or otherwise inadequate — this represents a significant loss of potential revenue. Current booking levels at Centennial Hall prove that additional spaces are sorely needed and will be well utilized. On several occasions this project was subjected to exhaustive financial analysis by Mckinley Research Group: Each time the experts concluded that the project will be running in the black by the third year of operation.
To satisfy calls for the city to own its facilites, the ownership of the land and buildings will remain with CBJ. Operation and maintenance of the facility will be handled by the Arts Council, similar to the way things are done now. Maintenance costs will probably be much lower than on the existing JACC building, which is nearing the end of its useful life. All the same, they will be backstopped by an endowment, managed by the Juneau Community Foundation, which was specifically created to assist in meeting the operating expenses of the facility.
It is true that building plans call for completing West Third Street, which currently ends at the main entrance to Centennial Hall, and extending it to Whittier Street will result in a net loss of 12 parking spaces along the northern edge of the project. Fortunately, Bullwinkle’s (a block away) usually has street parking available — and the other businesses within walking distance all have their own parking lots — so there will be no impact on local businesses.
The Capital Civic Center enjoys broad community support. More than 700 Juneauites — including individuals; families; and businesses, big and small — have already contributed more than $6 million to this project. The buy-in from the community for this project dwarfs anything in the history of public-private projects in Alaska.
The Assembly has held an extensive series of public hearings and open community forums on this project. The Partnership created to oversee the development of the Capital Civic Center has also held a number of public information sessions to publicize the project…and another is in the works for later this spring. We encourage anyone who hasn’t seen the latest designs and stunning visual flythrough to keep an eye out for that. Please, join us if you can: We’d love to share our exciting plans with you.
• Peter Jurasz is a lifelong Juneau resident and member of the Partnership Inc. board of directors.
