Juneau legislators plan to introduce a bill to name the State Libraries, Archives and Museum building after Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff.
Of Russian and Native descent, Father Kashevaroff became the first librarian and curator of the Alaska Historical Museum and Library in 1919. He was also the Russian Orthodox priest of Juneau’s St. Nicholas Church.
Rep. Sam Kito III says he and Sen. Dennis Egan will be prime sponsors of the bill.
Both lawmakers, along with Rep. Cathy Munoz, spoke at a Native Issues Forum in Juneau yesterday.
Egan says the SLAM building downtown will be completed spring of next year.
“It’s a huge project. It’s a statewide facility, but thank heavens it’s based here in Juneau. It’s a $140 million structure,” Egan says.
Egan says a lot of funding was secured last year for other capital city projects – $1.7 million towards modifying the berth at Auke Bay for day boats, $3.5 million for repairing the dock facility in Gustavus and about $5 million toward road work on Egan Drive and Glacier Highway. Egan says capitol building renovations are fully funded at $32.7 million.
In the governor’s proposed budget, he says there’s $3 million for the year-round use of Salmon Creek Reservoir, $3 million in deferred maintenance on state buildings, many of which are in Juneau.
Munoz says the proposed budget cuts 329 jobs, including about 50 in Juneau. That included closing the Alaska Public Offices Commission in Juneau and moving two of its three employees to Anchorage.
“The governor just announced that that would not happen and in part, it was due to the advocacy of the Juneau delegation,” Munoz says.
Munoz says there are now four state department heads living in Juneau, up from two when the new administration first came in. At the end of January, Juneau lawmakers wrote a letter to Gov. Bill Walker expressing their concern on the issue.
At the forum, the lawmakers also presented Paralympian and Juneau resident Joe Tompkins with a framed citation from the Alaska Legislature. Tompkins is a four-time Paralympian for downhill skiing.
