Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar Historic Survey, September 2006

PREVIOUS CULTURAL RESOURCE INVESTIGATIONS
The Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar (Merchant's Wharf) is identified as having
historic significance in the 1997 Draft Historic Preservation Plan developed
by the CBJ Community Development Department. The bulldlnq is listed as,
"Coastal Steamship Company/Merchant's Wharf" in the document's "List of
Historic Resources in Juneau." It was first identified as a historic resource in
the "Inventory of Historic Sites and Structures" report of March 1986. Recent
research has revealed that the Coastal Steamship Co. buildinq was
demolished a number of years prior to the construction of the Alaska Coastal
Airlines Hangar.
The eligibility of the Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar (Merchant's Wharf) for
inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places was evaluated in 1985 for
a planned hotel development on the site by Capital City Incorporated. The
project required a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers which set in
motion the Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act of
1966. Peratrovich Nottingham and Drage Incorporated, the engineering firm
working on the hotel project, was assisted in the Determination of Eligibility
for the National Register of Historic Places by Holden Gerken & Associates.
Ernst Mueller of Holden Gerken & Associates asserted that the property was
not eligible for listing in the National Register because at that time (1985)
the earliest portion of the bUilding had not yet reached fifty years of age and
that there was a significant loss of integrity. Judith Bittner, Alaska State
Historic Preservation Officer concurred with their determination.
The proposed hotel project was not developed thus the Alaska Coastal
Airlines Hangar (Merchant's Wharf) remains today essentially as it did in
1985. It is the policy of the State Historic Preservation Officer to revisit
determinations of eligibility when more than five years have passed.
Therefore a new determination of eligibility would be required if a project
was enacted by a federal agency, required federal permits, or received
federal funding.
Since the site is located on coastal waters of the state of Alaska, future
development would require Coastal Management Review which may stipulate
provisions of the Alaska Historic Preservation Act.
Historic Property Evaluation - Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar Page 21