The Juneau Assembly has approved a formal agreement to begin design work on a new $60 million Capital Civic Center, to be built on the site of the current Juneau Arts & Culture Center — an aging National Guard Armory building.

Last month, the Assembly passed Resolution 4007, authorizing a memorandum of agreement with The Partnership, Inc., the nonprofit leading the fundraising effort for the arts and performance facility. This agreement launches the design phase of the project, which has been rebranded from its previous designation as an “arts” center. The city has pledged up to $1 million in public funds toward a $5 million budget, just for the construction plans.

The decision comes less than a year after catastrophic flooding caused by a glacial dam outburst from Suicide Basin destroyed homes and infrastructure in the Mendenhall Valley. Scientists warn that such flooding may become more frequent due to continued glacial melting. Still, the Assembly is moving forward with a project that voters have historically not prioritized. In response, city leaders rebranded the project as a “civic center” in an attempt to make it more appealing to taxpayers, who will ultimately bear the cost of construction and operations.

The arts center project has long been championed by local arts advocates and big-government supporters, including Bruce Botelho, a former mayor who in many ways acts as a shadow mayor in Juneau. The advocates view the venue as a cultural anchor and a potential tourism draw for downtown Juneau.

The newly approved spending documents outline the roles and responsibilities of both the city and The Partnership. Under the agreement, The Partnership must provide updated operational business plans, a life cycle cost analysis, and conduct value engineering reviews to inform Assembly decisions as the project progresses.

The Partnership, Inc. (EIN 46-4451460), is a nonprofit made up of local activists in arts, business, and tourism. It has secured some of the funding for the design phase from private donors. Juneau musician Bob Banghart serves as executive director and point person for the Capital Civic Center, coordinating efforts with groups such as the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, Travel Juneau, and the Juneau Chamber of Commerce. Local firm NorthWind Architects has been selected to lead the design work.

While planning for the arts-civic center is now accelerating, some Mendenhall Valley residents are still waiting to see whether mitigation efforts along the Mendenhall River will protect their homes and businesses from this year’s flood season. The flooding disasters of 2023 and 2024 displaced families, damaged property, and overwhelmed drainage systems. In response, large Hesco barriers are being installed along vulnerable sections of the riverbank. But whether they will work this year is still a big unknown.

Despite the ongoing threat posed by the glacier-fed Suicide Basin during the warmer months, city leaders have chosen to prioritize arts and culture spending. For now, the rebranded civic center project moves forward, with schematic design work expected to continue through 2025. Residents can follow project updates at NorthWind Architects’ downtown office, located at 125 Seward Street.

Sean Boily of NorthWind Architects defended the project that his company will benefit greatly from. On Facebook, he wrote, “yah we need more hotel and housing and providing support for homes built (without foresight) in a flood area. We need to do this concurrently … stop trying to block city commitments to development of that type down town – that’s where visitors and seasonal employees want to be.”

His complete post in response to a Juneau doubter was:

“This will be a City owned asset at the end of the day, and largely NOT paid for by you. The arts council has proven it can operate the Centennial Hall facility more efficiently than the CBJ ever could, so we have a good operator that will keep operations out of the red. The Partnership is a nonprofit development arm of the arts council and community supporters for this project. In the last decade they have pulled together more than half of the funding for this facility, which is on track to be THE LARGEST philanthropically funded project with the least government support in Alaska. CBJs $1m plus access to the property to do it is pretty tiny investment in expanding capacity of Centennial Hall. This does have support from our visitor industry – they use the current facility, see it aging out, and see benefit in expansion. We also have new neighbors to accommodate: the future expanded USCG base next door. We are providing infrastructure capacity with this facility. 2) yah we need more hotel and housing and providing support for homes built (without foresight) in a flood area. We need to do this concurrently. It ALL gives people a reason to live here. And in part because of this vision there are developers starting to look more seriously at Juneau in the hotel/housing world. Read some assembly packets, attend some meetings, stop trying to block city commitments to development of that type down town – that’s where visitors and seasonal employees want to be. 3) I see people keep misconstruing costs of “design”, clearly having no clue what that means. That is all planning, engineering (mechanical, electrical, structural, civil, environmental, energy, fire protection) plus acoustical, lighting, architectural, parking, landscape, theater, estimating etc. – three years of design and construction administration services, that’s mostly by a few dozen LOCAL professionals who also pay taxes here. Then on top of that will be scores of people in the construction trades to build. This, compounded with other projects on the boards, makes an economically strong community for a long time to come.

“We should have gotten this done a decade ago when it would have cost half as much. Too much resistance to support then, this has negatory affected the perception of outside developers considering investment here now,” he continued. “Are you all just banking on a state or federal handout to enhance our town assets? Not likely to happen without some local commitment like this.”

There is no transparency at this point on the cost to taxpayers for building or maintaining the palace to the arts.

Meanwhile, a citizens’ group monitoring and advising on the flood risks in the Mendenhall Valley will have its next meeting at 6 pm, June 18 at Chapel by the Lake, next to Auke Lake. Attending will be Congressman Nick Begich III’s state director Rick Whitbeck.