PRESIDENTS CORNER
The season in Alaskaland is drawing to a close.
Wickersham House will be closing shortly now that
Labor Day is over. Although Alaska overall saw an
increase in tourism, this has not necessarily held true for
Fairbanks, and for Alaskaland in particular. Wickersham
House has seen fewer visitors this year than last and
park merchants have noticed less traffic than in other
years. This presents Wickersham House advisors with a
new challenge: How to create a more meaningful
experience for visitors to Wickersham House, how to
enhance our ability to raise funds through a gift shop or
special activities and lastly, how to promote
Wickersham House effectively. Members with
innovative ideas are encouraged to contact us by the end
of the season so that we may plan for 1997.
Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find a photograph of the historic Palace Hotel, now the Trading Post at Alaskaland. Please note the sway in the roof line. Alaskaland is owned and administered by the Fairbanks North Star Borough. We urge you to let the Administration know that adequate funding needs to be made available for the rehabilitation of the structure and other buildings in need of repair at Alaskaland.
is the title of a symposium
scheduled for September 28, 1996
at the Masonic Temple on First
Avenue. The symposium focuses on
First Avenue and its environs and
will explore common problems
experienced by property owners in
the area. The symposium will start
at 10:00 am and continue until 5:30
pm.
The first session includes a
background sketch of early
Fairbanks and continues from there
to more immediate concerns such as
the diverse economic, social, and
developmental pressures felt by the
neighborhood. Architects will join
us in the second session and discuss
diverse options open to owners and
businesses when building or
remodeling a home or business or
build on empty lots in an established
neighborhood such as along First
Avenue and identify resident
desires, projects and goals.
Where do we go from here is
the theme of the third and last
session of the day. Solutions found
to work in other communities will
be discussed. Property owners will
explore neighborhood strategies that
work discuss options open to affect
positive change, and self help
programs among other more
traditional approaches. Other areas
discussed will be how to affect
positive change and the role of local
government in the process. A round
table discussion focusing on
neighborhood strategies and
outlining the next step property
owners may want to pursue will
conclude the session.
The symposium is made
possible with the aid of a grant from
the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and is cosponsored by
the Fairbanks Historic Preservation
Commission.
Society members are welcome
to attend and are urged to contact
455-TYHS or 457-6165 with names
and addresses of friends and
neighbors from outside the
immediate area who may be
interested in attending this
important symposium.
Your Society needs your help
with the many last minute
preparations needed in putting on a
successful meeting. The Symposium
Maintaining Neighborhood Character
or How to Live With }our
Past is only a few weeks away. We
are looking for volunteers to help
with mailing, setting up meeting
rooms, procuring media equipment.
making telephone calls, arranging
for refreshments, providing
transportation for people in the
neighborhood who may need it, and
assist in publicizing the event.
Please call 457-6165 evenings. Your
supporrtt is needed and will be
appreciated.
Renee Blahuta,
Janet Matheson
Mary Mangusso
Oliver Backlund
Pete Bowers
Gretchen Lake
Geraldine Collins
Donna Krier
"Rocky" Rhoads
Adele Virgin
Notes from the Past
Society member Bruce Haldeman
shared the following newspaper account
from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner,
dated December 16, 1939, with us:
Can anyone share any recollections on
this forerunner of the Tanana - Yukon
Historical Society with us?
Historical Society Has Fine Meeting
Mrs. Charles Creamer, Sr.,
Gives Interesting Talk
About Early Days
Notes from the Past
The recently organized Fairbanks
Historical Society met in the City Hall
Thursday evening at 8 o'clock.
Mrs. Charles Creamer, Sr., a resident of
Graehl, and resident of Alaska since
I897, gave an interesting talk about her
entry into Alaska at that time, and
various experiences in the "early days"
and her very early residence in
Fairbanks, when all was a wilderness, and
no modern conveniences. such as we
have today.
Photo and Kodak Pictures
Everybody is Eligible
ANOTHER ENDANGERED TREASURE
One historic property nominated by our
members is the railroad bed and artifacts
of the Tanana Valley Railroad. In
responding to the nomination, we have
asked the Fairbanks Historic
Preservation Commission to work with
the Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities to determine eligibility
for a Phase I survey project, followed by
a phase II rehabilitation project of the
railbed. The transportation related
railbed is eligible for ISTEA funding and
should be a priority item on the State
Transportation Improvement Project list.
Maintaining Neighborhood
Character, or How to Live with Your
Past
TYHS Board Members
TYHS BOARD