Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is kicking off its Boathouse 2020 capital campaign with a Gala Open House 2-6 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Japonski Island Boathouse.
Society members are welcoming the community to drop by the family-friendly event for cupcakes, games, artifacts, live music, and tours of the building.
The Boathouse 2020 campaign is aimed at completing rehabilitation of the Japonski Island Boathouse, with an accessible entry, toilets, sprinkler system, heat and insulation. The local fundraising goal of $100,000 also will leverage grants toward the total goal of $750,000 for a fully operational facility. To date, the value of work on the building, including construction documents, roof and foundation work, totals more than $680,000, board members say.
Sitka Maritime Heritage Society board member Mike Litman works on a block and tackle display for the Boathouse 2020 Gala Open House set to open on Saturday at the Japonski Island Boathouse. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
SMHS is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving maritime heritage and to sharing that legacy with the public, especially children and youths. The society holds regular programs and workshops, including live oral history at its annual meeting on themes like “The Slime Line.” Other programs include Pub Talks, workshops, events and classes. Oral history videos, historic documents and articles and photographs are archived on the sitkamaritime.org website.
However, programming is limited by not having a heated, accessible facility with restrooms, the society said in a press release.
Completion of the building through the Boathouse 2020 campaign will allow expansion of programming, and, with more visitors and programs, will produce income and increase capacity, the organization said. The SMHS goal is to have year-round classes, document local oral history and produce exhibits and publications.
The boathouse is a historic building, a contributing structure to the Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses National Historic Landmark, and so is being rehabilitated in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. It was built in 1941 for the U.S. Naval Air Station, significant as the only fully operational defense base on the North Pacific at the outbreak of WWII. The building features a covered marine railway for boat haul-outs. The building is nearly as it was in World War II, “with character and finishes that take you right back to that era,” a board member said.
After the war, it remained in use for hauling out the shore boats, the vessels that ferried passengers across Sitka Channel between downtown Sitka and the federal community of Mt. Edgecumbe on Japonski Island. The O’Connell Bridge was built in 1972, making the shore boat fleet obsolete, and the boathouse was closed in the early 1980s and fell into disrepair.
In 2005, the SMHS initiated the transfer of the building from the State of Alaska to the City and Borough of Sitka for rehabilitation as a public maritime heritage center. The society, with help from grants and volunteers, has worked steadily toward this goal, restoring the roof, all doors and windows and the foundation, and building the shell and foundation for an accessible entry and restroom.
The boathouse will ultimately function as a multi-use public space, featuring a workshop for building small boats and kayaks, classroom and exhibit space.
The organization said a future phase will refurbish the marine railway, which will become Sitka’s only public, covered boat repair facility.
‘‘This unique waterfront building will be an asset to our community as an attraction for visitors and locals alike, evens hosting maritime festivals,’’ the press release said. ‘‘The boathouse will also be a center for education where classes and camps on all things watercraft and marine will be taught. The vision is to create a space where Sitka’s children, parents, and elders can come together to teach, learn, experience and share our unique maritime heritage.’’
The event Saturday will feature cupcakes and root beer floats, coffee, snacks, live music, and activities for all ages like “guess that artifact.” Visitors can view plans and see the start of the new commercial fishing history exhibit in the storeroom wing. Artifacts from the building dating to World War II, vintage boat building tools, photographs and more will be on view.
For more information or to contribute to the project, go to www.sitkamaritime.org and the Boathouse 2020 tab, email sitkamaritime@gmail.com or call (907) 623-8054.
