Executive Summary
The City and Borough of Juneau’s
Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the CBJ Assembly in 1997, is the official long-range plan
for the growth and development of the community. Policy 4.18 of the plan states, "It
is the policy of the CBJ to identify and protect historic and archaeological resources; to
educate, encourage, and assist the general public in recognizing the value of historic
preservation; and to promote heritage tourism which accurately represents Juneau’s
unique Native Alaskan, Russian, Early American, and other cultures."
The Comprehensive Plan identifies a number of implementing actions
which support the various policies of the plan. Implementing action 4.18.11 of the plan
states, "Revise and expand the Juneau Historic Preservation Strategy to become a
historic preservation plan that sets forth goals and objectives for organizing
preservation activities and integrating preservation into the broader community and land
use planning efforts outlining tasks, area specific surveys, and grant funding
sources."
It is with this mandate that the Community Development Department
embarked on the development of the Juneau Historic Preservation Plan. The development of
the plan was made possible through a Federal historic preservation fund matching grant
administered by the Alaska Office of History and Archaeology. The process of developing
the plan has been on-going over a period of about two and one half years. It began with a
public scoping meeting to identify the issues and concerns regarding the preservation of
historic resources in the community. CBJ Staff and volunteers with expertise in
archaeology and Native culture developed various draft plans which were presented at
public meetings of the Historic Resources Advisory Committee. The Committee, interested
community members, and the Office of History and Archaeology reviewed and commented on the
plan during its development and those comments were considered in the development of the
draft plan.
A Vision of Preservation
In 1996 Juneau began a citizen visioning process. The participants
expressed an underlying view of Juneau as that of " a friendly community, rich in
history and cultural diversity; gold mining roots and a strong Native Alaskan
tradition." One persons vision had residents and visitors able to "...touch and
experience the history of the founding days because of efforts focused to preserve the
historic character..." The visioning process prompted development of the following
statements relative to the vision of historic preservation in Juneau:
Juneau will be a community which is knowledgeable and understands the
importance of protecting and preserving its unique pre-history, history, and Native
culture;
Juneau will be a community which takes care to protect and preserve the
historic physical character of the community; and
Juneau will be a community which is proud to share its past with
residents and visitors in a manner which protects the valuable historic resources of the
area.
Goals and Objectives
The goals and objectives of the plan provide guidance and direction
for the community in the preservation efforts of its historic resources.
GOAL 1:
Identify, evaluate, and protect the historic and archaeological resources within
the City and Borough of Juneau.
Maintain and support the Historic Resources Advisory Committee as the
CBJ citizen committee for the purpose of protecting historic resources in the community
and implementing the Historic Preservation Plan.
Continue the effort to identify historic resources within the
CBJ.
Determine the relative significance of identified historic resources
in the community and officially recognize such resources.
dentify appropriate measures to protect significant historic and
cultural resources.
Encourage and assist owners of significant historic properties to
maintain their original architectural character.
Extend the Downtown Historic District to include areas of similar
architectural character as the current district.
Support the Downtown Historic District Standards to assure the unique
architectural character of the district is preserved and protected.
GOAL 2:
Increase public awareness of the value and importance of Juneau’s history and historic
resources.
Educate and inform the general public about Juneau's unique history
and Native heritage.
Support and maintain the city owned museums (Juneau Douglas City
Museum and the Last Chance Mining Museum) as repositories for heritage materials and
information held in the public interest and as a place of learning about Juneau’s
history and historic resources.
GOAL 3:
Preserve and protect the unique culture of Juneau’s Native people including buildings,
sites, traditions, lifestyle, language, and history.
Develop interpretive materials throughout the community to inform the
public about the heritage of local Natives and other ethnic groups of the area.
Provide a means for understanding and appreciating the traditional
culture of Juneau's Native people.
GOAL 4:
Promote heritage tourism which enhances and accurately
represents Juneau’s unique history and Native culture.
Recommendations
The Preservation Plan identifies a series of implementing actions
which are recommendations for activities which will accomplish the goals and objectives
for protecting and preserving Juneau’s valuable historic resources. Implementing
actions include educational programs, guidelines for maintaining historic features of the
community, and programs to continue documenting the community’s historic resources.
Other implementing actions target community groups and organizations which actively work
toward preservation of historic resources and the establishment of community processes for
resolving conflicts between preservation of historic resources and alternative development
and land uses.
Implementing the preservation plan is the key to preserving and
protecting the historic resources of Juneau. It is recommended that the Historic Resources
Advisory Committee take the leadership role in the community for this important task. The
Committee is well established and has the expertise to adequately spearhead preservation
activities identified in the plan.
The preservation plan will be most effective if it is periodically
reviewed and updated. Recommendations of the plan call for such review. A public process
is suggested to assure that the plan is meeting the goals and objectives. It is important
that the plan be modified as necessary to reflect the desires of the community on
preservation issues.
