History can point the way to city museum’s future

As a volunteer at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, I encourage our visitors to watch a 25-minute introductory film on the history of Juneau and Douglas (see “Juneau: City Built on Gold” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUdENzC6WJw&t=17s).   

Lessons from Juneau’s history, as described in the film, offer insights to problems that today vex our community. For instance in 1915, Bart Thane struggled to find sufficient power to supply his Alaska Gastineau Mine south of town.  His solution — the first of its kind in the world — is described in the museum’s film: “In another unprecedented feat of engineering, Thane’s men blasted a hole upward through the bottom of (Annex Lake), using gravity to transport water to the powerhouse by means of a two-mile long tunnel.” Perhaps Thane’s solution also inspired Juneau’s leaders to suggest diverting waters via a tunnel from Suicide Basin to Nugget Creek to avoid our present-day annual flooding risk in the Mendenhall Valley.    

Thane’s can-do, problem-solving attitude should also inspire Juneau’s leaders to solve the city’s budgetary problems without halving museum staff to only two employees. Do Assembly members appreciate that the museum’s 30 volunteers — not generally paid staff — are the public-face of the museum: volunteers welcome visitors to the museum and collect fees; volunteers describe museum exhibits and artifacts to visitors; and volunteers provide information about other attractions and commercial vendors in the Juneau area.  Without minimum staffing levels, it is doubtful whether the museum can recruit and manage volunteers to welcome visitors to its exhibits.

Deputy City Manager Robert Barr suggests that loss of staff will necessitate drastically reducing the museum’s hours. This prediction is sadly ironic as the tourists whom the Assembly would attract to Juneau are deprived of the very programs that welcome and educate them about our community. 

Bart Thane is one of the visionary pioneers who believed in Juneau’s future. In contrast, the Assembly’s approach to our budgetary problems is at best cynical. Given such drastic staff cuts proposed by the Assembly, how might the Juneau-Douglas City Museum survive to inform residents and leaders alike of our better future?

Daniel Collison

Juneau