Assembly's scorched-earth approach redevelopment of Telephone Hill difficult to understand

(City and Borough of Juneau photo)

What makes a great city great? Seattle's Space Needle, the New York skyline, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge instantly come to mind. But when I think about my visits to these cities it's the neighborhoods that I mostly remember: The exotic sights and smells of a Chinatown or outdoor market, stately rows of immaculately preserved Victorian homes, sidewalk cafes, colorful street vendors and performers, lively little parks where young couples push strollers past their retired neighbors kibitzing over dominoes or chess. Great neighborhoods make great cities. Alaska's capital city is no exception.

There is lots for tourists to do in Juneau, but after sing-alongs at the Red Dog, a tram ride and a crab leg, many visitors are ready for a peaceful stroll through a pleasant neighborhood. Fortunately, there is just such a place close at hand. Like Central Park in New York, Juneau's Telephone Hill neighborhood remains an inviting green space right in the heart of the city's bustling downtown. The name comes from the first telephone service in Juneau, set up by Edward Webster in 1893 at the house he built on the Hill the previous year. That house is still there — along with other of the oldest continuously occupied homes in the state. Strolling through the neighborhood with its historic homes, its century-old gardens and arbors, has long been an important part of Juneau's tourist experience. On summer evenings, visitors often stop to chat with residents, who are happy to discuss the Hill's rich history. There is no admission fee. The only souvenirs available are the memories of a visit to the living history of Alaska. Sadly, these memorable experiences, so vital to making Juneau the worldwide destination it has become, may be facing an end.

A former Juneau city manager, an early advocate of demolishing Telephone Hill, described the situation there as "a classic good of the many versus good of the few issue." Is history just for the few? Has the maintaining of the homes and gardens on the Hill by its residents, for over a century, been just for the few? And is one leafy sanctuary from the relentless commerce of a tourist town too many?

Change, of course, is inevitable, but I find the Assembly's scorched-earth approach to the redevelopment of Telephone Hill difficult to understand. I have seen what the destruction of neighborhoods has done to other cities I've known. I have seen buildings in Boston dating back to the Revolution bulldozed to make way for an IHOP or McDonald's. In San Francisco, small businesses run by the same family for generations have been replaced with million-dollar condominiums. Tour buses now cruise through these iconic neighborhoods with the driver pointing out landmarks that "used to be there." Is this to be the fate of Telephone Hill? Will the oldest homes in Juneau be replaced by high-rise, concrete and glass boxes with photos in the lobbies of what "used to be there?" The Hill deserves better than that. Juneau deserves better than that.

Joe Karson

Juneau