The final days in Juneau’s oldest house as Telephone Hill’s eviction deadline arrives
- Mark Sabbatini
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Belongings and furniture still not packed as Maureen Conerton and husband Jeff Brown are staying past Saturday’s move-out date, but she says they know time is short
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Maureen Conerton and Jeff Brown will still be sleeping in Juneau’s oldest house Saturday night, despite an Nov. 1 eviction order for their house and a dozen other residences on Telephone Hill. Their furnishings and possessions remain mostly in their usual places, and there’s no plans for a rush packing job this weekend.
But Conerton said she knows there’s little time left before they’ll have to join their neighbors who’ve already moved out.
"Jeff and I have a place that we've rented," she said Saturday while sitting in a corner room of the Edward Webster House overlooking downtown Juneau. "It's not downtown. It’s out in the Auke Bay area and it needs, sadly, a new septic system to be connected."
The hope is that work is done while the legal process for a tenant who hasn’t moved out by an eviction date occurs, Conerton said. Such action by the city could take days or weeks, and she said city employees have indicated they are willing to allow some flexibility in moving dates, especially since her husband has Parkinson’s Disease.
"I’ve been told we’re going to get extra time," she said. "Not months."
Conerton noted a caretaker living with them will also be moving to the Auke Bay house, although they will be losing the services of two part-time caretakers due to their availability.
"It’s much smaller than this place," she said. "But you know what — it has a roof."
Four of the 13 residences (in seven structures) on Telephone Hill with eviction notices were still occupied as of Thursday, according to City Manager Katie Koester. She said the city will seek court action beginning Monday for any people still living in those homes. State law requires a judge to issue a Writ of Assistance that is then carried out by a law enforcement agency, a process that can take days or weeks.
Telephone Hill residents were originally supposed to vacate their homes by Oct. 1, but the evictions were delayed for a month due to an error in serving them. That delay is also affecting the demolition, "with bids going out no sooner than one month after vacancy to allow time for (hazardous materials) testing," Koester wrote in an Oct. 30 memo to the Juneau Assembly.
"Bids will be awarded in December 2025/January 2026," she wrote. "Pending favorable weather (icy streets and significant snow load complicate the work) demolition could be complete in March 2026 with blasting and site prep in spring 2026."
Once site work is completed, the city plans to seek a developer to build four midrise apartments with a total of 155 residential units beginning in 2027. An overview of the city’s upcoming plans for the redevelopment project is scheduled to be presented to the Assembly’s Committee of the Whole at 6 p.m. Monday.
The project has been highly controversial, even though redevelopment plans for Telephone Hill have been in the works for decades. The state purchased the land in 1984 hoping to use it for a new Capitol, then gave the property to the city in 2023 as the discussion turned to residential redevelopment. People living on Telephone Hill — some for decades — have been doing so as renters, with knowledge of the plans discussed by the state and then the city.
The Edward Webster House, built in 1882, has a plaque next to its front door proclaiming it "Juneau’s oldest residence" and also lays claim to being the oldest occupied house in Alaska. The Webster family used part of it for offices of the Juneau & Douglas Telephone Co. they also owned, which was the first commercial telephone service in Alaska.
Multiple extensions were added to the house during a 70-year period after its initial construction. Exterior walls of the original house can still be seen by peeking inside closets and other spots normally hidden from view, and antique fixtures such as ornate cast iron radiators are still functioning.
Brown and Conerton have lived there for years, and both are now in their early 80s.
"My concern is how Jeff is going to make the transition," she said.
Conerton said she may leave some furniture behind – with the city’s blessing — and put other belongings into a storage facility during the move to the smaller Auke Bay house. As of this week she was still talking of hopes city leaders might rethink their redevelopment plans for Telephone Hill, but also accepting the requirement for her to move on.
The next step after homes are vacated on Telephone Hill is inspecting them for hazardous materials, according to Koester.
"This is necessary before demolition to properly categorize and dispose of the waste," she wrote in her memo to the Assembly. "The dwellings must be vacant when this invasive testing is done, as it often stirs up hazardous materials."
Conerton said there’s hazardous substances in the basement, but doesn’t expect officials to find much beyond that.
"The only thing they're going to find is true-dimensional old-growth wood they’re going to burn," she said.
Among the documents being presented to the Assembly on Monday is a "Telephone Hill FAQ" dated Oct. 30, meant to provide officials and residents with an overview of why the redevelopment is occurring. It also addresses a number of allegations about the feasibility of the project and suggestions that building housing elsewhere downtown would be more suitable than in the historic neighborhood.
"While CBJ is actively working to prepare other CBJ properties to be development-ready for future housing, Telephone Hill is unique in that it is already properly zoned, has basic utilities, direct road access and is large enough to accommodate multiple buildings," the FAQ notes.
Critics of the redevelopment of Telephone Hill have also raised questions such as whether the land is stable enough to support the large-scale structures and the affordability of housing that will be built, which the FAQ addresses.
While Conerton is among the people raising such questions, a more fundamental concern is the city is about to demolish a historic area with a unique character amidst the development surrounding it downtown, and displacing many longtime elderly residents in the process.
"They could have waited a couple of years and we would have been dead," she said.
The new development, in addition to the midrise apartments, will feature an improved roadway and green space, according to the FAQ.
"A tree canopy will be reestablished around Telephone Hill following construction to maintain the green, natural look of the hill as shown in the Place Guide," the FAQ notes. Also, "the Telephone Hill park, switchback trail, and parking garage will remain unchanged."
But Conerton — looking out her front door past the "oldest residence" sign toward the termination dust gathering on nearby mountains — said the neigborhood won’t be the same.
"The people that will be moving into the new condos will have the same view, maybe, but not the same history," she said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
