Daily Sitka Sentinel

City Seal Redesign To Get Public Review

By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer

The official seal of the City and Borough of Sitka is receiving an update after nearly 50 years, and a decision is near on the design of the replacement.

The current seal design is based on a souvenir medallion with a view from Castle Hill in 1970 and showing an antique cannon pointing outward from the modern-day stone wall atop the hill.

“It represents some historical trauma,” said Kevin Knox, who co-sponsored the redesign project with fellow Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz.

Knox and Eisenbeisz brought the issue of the seal design forward early this year after it was a topic at meetings between the Assembly and the Tribal Council of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. A new design “was a desire of members of the Native community,” Knox said.

The city ran a contest for a new design for the seal from mid-February to the end of March. It drew in 13 responses, of which seven met the criteria for the redesign. The designs have been displayed on the city website and have been put out for review by city boards and commissions.

On Wednesday night there will be an open house 5-7 p.m. at Centennial Hall where the public can view the designs and complete a survey. At 7 p.m. Thursday facilitator Doug Osborne will lead a guided discussion on the entries on Zoom.

Those interested in participating by Zoom should email planning@cityofsitka.org.

Knox said the redesign project is a part of the decolonization and reparative movement in Sitka. It started before the present nationwide discourse on racism arose in June with the death of George Floyd in police custody.

“It’s important to remember that some people want to look at this as yet another reaction to some of the national dialogue going on about historical trauma, but this was something we’d looked at before any of this stuff happened,” Knox said.

“It’s been an interesting process to be a part of,” he said. “The submissions people put forward are really great and there are some really great ideas out there for an exciting new design.”

“Part of the stated intent and part of the project ... is that we want the resulting seal to be representative of Sitka,” said Amy Ainslie, city Planning and Community Development director. “We thought that putting this out to all of the boards who oversee different aspects of city government would be a nice way to get a lot of different perspectives.”

Ainslie and Knox have both observed commissioners and board members react to the prospective seal designs.

“So far I think it’s been really positive,” Ainslie said. “The two (meetings) I’ve been at commissioners were saying how hard it is to choose.”

Knox said he’d seen similar reactions at the commission and board level.

“People are really interested in seeing broader representation of the Sitka community,” he said. “The (O’Connell) bridge and the mountains and either a canoe or a totem seem to span throughout almost all of the designs ... People are excited about them.”

The options for the redesign are available to the public. Sitkans interested in commenting on the designs can take the Google survey on the city website, cityofsitka.com. The survey is located under the page’s fourth headline, “City Seal Redesign Project.” 

The survey link is forms.gle/yqx2EKKSKWoypvw76. It will be available until Aug. 4.