In Juneau’s soul, a deeper pain
- Guest contributor
- Mar 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 8
By Page Bridges
Telephone Hill is our last refuge downtown, a place of peace and beauty and a historic treasure. It needs to be a designated historic district. It is beauty created and left to us by our pioneers to give us joy and transcendent peace.
The oldest house in Juneau is on Telephone Hill. Devita Writer painted it in 1994, revealing the phenomenal beauty of our hill. She also just wrote a haunting, heartrending poem:
Telephone Hill whispers fade,
The god of progress in rubble laid.
Memories linger, ghosts remain,
In Juneau's soul, a deeper pain.
We feel unbearable, absolutely unnecessary pain. The City could stop the bulldozers, sell the houses, change the zoning to protect Telephone Hill and otherwise make Juneau happy. John Ingalls, a 50-year resident of the hill, shares the pain he feels in an Independent article of Feb. 28. John and other residents have maintained the houses and gardens, spending their own money for the repairs. They know firsthand the joy of living in a historic house:
"It's killing me to have to move this stuff and been really hard," said John Ingalls, a longtime former Telephone Hill resident who still has items from a flute-making workshop and other possessions left in indoor and outdoor storage areas. "I love this house. My wife loves it. My son wants to move back into it if he can. He grew up here and he would like to take it over — and it's a triplex — and live with a few other guys, maybe some of his friends, and maybe start a whole new tradition of creativity."
“A whole new tradition of creativity.” Juneau is poised to have a renaissance, because Juneau is a mecca for artists. For Juneau’s long-standing creativity to continue, it is vital that Telephone Hill continues.
John seemed infinitely sad describing to me famous bands that started on Telephone Hill and that Celebration started there. We talked about his unique flutes which he can’t work on effectively without his music studio on Telephone Hill.
We are all sad about Jeff Brown with Parkinson’s losing his home. Jeff contributed vastly to the community, from comedy publications to free magic shows for children to free-wheeling art. All while he worked for KTOO and helped Juneau’s arts.
Tony Tengs is a famous Telephone Hill musician and resident. He was there when Maureen and Jeff were moving out. Mark Sabbatini was there, too, and interviewed him: “He and others said they’re still holding out hope the homes in the neighborhood will be preserved and people can move back in, but those hopes are dimming.”
Our hopes must not dim. We must be bright with hope. As Tony Tengs often warns, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Telephone Hill is beautiful, and the people agree. We need beauty. Following are Facebook quotes re the beauty:
"Gosh these homes are so beautiful, inside and out. Many great memories in each!"
"Save money and build some where else!! Leave it alone!! The houses are beautiful!!"
"I love telephone hill one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in town. Should be like NY City & be our Central Park. Who wants to look at more yuppie high-rises. Just turn it into a park for all to enjoy."
Juneau’s origin story is poetic. Included are the stories of Telephone Hill from the beginning to now. We need to celebrate what has made us the way we are. Consider how ugly Telephone Hill would be torn up and bulldozed. Consider how ugly it would be replete with concrete condos. As Devita Writer wrote in her poem, "In Juneau’s soul, a greater pain."
• Page Bridges is a Juneau resident.
