Chugach Electric proposed wall is wrong for Old Girdwood
To the Editor:
What Chugach Electric is trying to do at the entrance to Girdwood is just plain wrong!
The existing substation located at the entrance to our “Premier Resort” community is about to expand to three times the present size. Chugach Electric Association proposes to build a wall topped with barbed wire 14 feet high, the length of a football field around the property, (block 3, lots 17-22, Old Girdwood Townsite).
The six lots that Chugach Electric plans to develop in Old Girdwood are zoned GC3, meaning “light” commercial/residential, not industrial, for an important reason. Light commercial development should be allowed to expand across Gold Avenue from the Tesoro Station Mall without this industrial eyesore in the way. These lots are easily accessed from the highway and could accommodate a bank branch, pharmacy, or even a grocery store. We feel the proposed expansion will be a conflict with both residential and commercial use. We would like to work with the GBOS and Chugach Electric to come up with an alternative plan for this project.
An upgraded substation is critical for the future expansion of Girdwood. It is my understanding that our industrial park can finally be platted now that Ruane Road is paved, meeting final compliance. One possible solution would be for the HLB to swap industrial zoned land in the Ruane Road industrial park area for the six Old Girdwood lots held by Chugach. This would be a win win.
The entryway to a town is like the entrance to your home; and gives a lasting first impression. For six years I have watched from my store in the Girdwood Station Mall, as visitors got out of their cars to take a photo of the beautiful Girdwood Valley, after seeing it from the Seward Highway, only to find huge towering poles, dozens of wires, and a humming substation blocking their view.
The present substation facility was built in 1963, long before the visionaries of our valley established long term planning goals with an eye to responsible community themes and sustainable business development. The present substation expansion plans do not support this vision, and in fact blocks it indefinitely.
What Chugach Electric is trying to do at the entrance to Girdwood is just plain wrong.
Thank you, for your support.
Citizens for Old Girdwood
Chris Roberts and Connie Cooley
Girdwood Fine Arts Camp closes out 23rd season
To the Editor:
The Girdwood Fine Arts Camp’s 23rd season has come to a close and plans are underway for year 24. This last summer the camp involved 63 students and 18 art instructors. The youngest Art Campers sampled a wide array of art media. The afternoon group of older children and teens did studio work in several media. The intensive studio workshops in digital photography and PHOTOSHOP and Monumental sculpture were positive experiences. Two adult workshops in digital photography and book making techniques brought grown ups into the Arts Camp experience.
Nearly every public space in Girdwood was utilized including Glacier City Hall, our new Community Center, Challenge Alaska and the Forest Fair Park. On the last day of Camp the whole town was treated to the show of student work with a display of creations, a puppet show from our youngest Art Campers and the new addition of a monumental sculpture installation in the Forest Fair Park.
The story of the Arts Camp is as much about the support from the community as it is about the artistic explorations, experiences and successes of the students. Donations and sponsorship from individuals, businesses like the Girdwood Clinic and grants from the Girdwood Forest Fair Committee, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts made the Girdwood Fine Arts Camp a reality. Our local restaurants The Bake Shop. the Silvertip Cafe, Chair 5 Crow Creek Mercantile, Coast Pizza, the Tap Root Cafe, the Double Musky Inn, Maxine’s and Turnagain House were extremely generous by providing lunches for the artist / instructors. Parent volunteers helped spread the art influence over the young children in Girdwood. Girdwood 2020 and Girdwood Rotary provided scholarships for 7 talented local children.
Next year our plans include a fired in place ceramic playhouse addition to the Children’s Park with help from the Alaska Design Forum. Two additional concrete planter mosaics fashioned after the Arts Camp planter mosaic at the intersection of Alyeska Why and Egloff drive will be created in cooperation with the Four Valleys Community Schools. A partnership with the Anchorage Museum of History and Art will bring students down from Anchorage to participate in the Arts Camp.
The Girdwood Fine Arts Camp is a highly anticipated annual cultural event that our whole town gets involved with in some way or another. It is a major undertaking for a small organization like ours but the camp is so much fun and is so important that enthusiasm carries us on .
Again we are grateful for all the support we receive from all of you.
Thalia Wilkinson and Sarah Cronk, Directors
Girdwood Fine Arts Camp
Why can’t things get done right the first time?
To the Editor:
Do you ever find yourself wondering why things can’t get done right the first time these days? I do, especially when I end up paying for them down the line.
For instance, I wonder why the stairs and sidewalks of our new post office had to be demolished and replaced. Don’t all stair nosings have to be anchored? I also wonder why there is a lake in the road in the just opened, brand new Girdwood Transportation Center. Maybe boating in Lake Holmgren is part of the plan, or perhaps hockey in the winter.
Lastly, I really wonder about what I’ll be wondering about when the new improved Crow Creek Road and California Creek Bridge are finally finished.
Reid Bahnson
Girdwood