Group pushes for
a bix fix for the
Chilkat Center

By Jessica Edwards

The Chilkat Center needs extensive repairs, starting with a professional and comprehensive survey of its problems, the center’s advisory board told the Haines Borough Assembly last month.

“It really has served as an important attraction to Haines,” said advisory board member Dan Henry. “We need to honor this building, not shun it. It really pays off for the community.”

Since the building was renovated in 1980, the borough has taken a “band-aid” approach to repairs, Henry said, describing $10,000 set aside by the borough for roof repairs this year as only a start. “We could be looking at much bigger costs than just small grants to keep it limping along.”

Borough manager Robert Venables said because borough maintenance staff was overburdened and the building was complex, getting an outside firm to evaluate problems would fast-track solutions.

Venables said he was in touch with Juneau engineering firms with expertise in mechanical, structural and electrical engineering to do a condition survey. “That will allow us to have a comprehensive assessment of what the need is and cost will be. Once I have a proposal from them on what that survey is likely to cost, I will also know how long that process will be.”

Henry and KHNS director Judy Erekson pointed out trouble spots and damage in the building during a walk-through.

In the cavernous attic at the building’s south end above the stage, they pointed out where roof flashing on a seam between the original building and an addition that was part of the 1980 renovation was compromised, allowing water to work its way in.

Plastic bags covered insulation in the southeast corner of the attic and a plastic trash can was positioned below the hole to collect water. Sky was visible and water dripped through the roof where the old structure, constructed of massive beams bearing the Port Chilkoot Barracks quartermaster’s stamp, met the addition.

On the other side of an attic wall, the same leak melted a two-by-two foot section of the boardroom ceiling in the southwest corner, leaving an ugly hole and water stains. Cracks in the sheetrock radiated outwards from the hole, and mold has begun to grow on the trim near the floor where the carpet was soaked.

Erekson said the boardroom’s appearance rendered it unfit as a meeting room for local groups.

She said the water from the roof and also from a catastrophic sprinkler burst in December had soaked insulation in the attic, causing the roof to heat up.

Replacing the vapor barrier and wet insulation was a top priority, Erekson said, because besides the obvious energy inefficiencies, the warm roof exacerbated problems by quickly melting snow. Water running down the roof was trapped by ice dams at its edges, eventually seeping through the roof and down walls.

Heavy moss, visible on roof shakes, also kept water from shedding.

Erekson said she could feel ice bulging in the building’s west wall during freezing spells. She said she recently opened the electrical box for the stage in the hallway that houses the radio station’s albums, to find water leaking down the electrical panel. Water also leaked through light fixtures and sprinkler heads, she said.

In KHNS studios, ceilings in the engineer’s rooms showed signs of water damage that Erekson said occurred intermittently during freezes and thaws over the years.

A beam, jacked too high during repairs several years ago, bulged through the floor in music director Mary Giovanini’s office. 

Down the hallway from the boardroom, Erekson stopped below a leaking window in the east stairwell that had damaged the wall beneath. Downstairs, the paint on the lintel of the doorway leading into the Chilkat Center lobby was bubbled, and the sheetrock was cracked. Water streaks above the door to the ceiling indicated where water had streamed in from the window above.

Staff had taped plastic sheets at the top of the window during a recent thaw and placed buckets beneath it to try to catch some of the water.

Henry said borough employees had removed a control panel for the building’s heating systems two years ago, and the system hadn’t worked since.

Erekson said the borough had also disconnected the HVAC ventilation system, making it impossible to get proper circulation in the building, further contributing to mold in the walls, ceilings, insulation, and carpet damaged by water.

Although the problems seem extensive, Erekson said she thought the building was sound considering its age and the extent of maintenance since 1980. “It’s still in great shape, it just needs some attention,” she said.

The building was moved in two pieces from Pyramid Harbor in 1926, and served as an entertainment and recreation center until the late 1970s. The old gymnasium became a theater in 1967.

The borough took ownership of the building in July 1979. The structure was renovated and became the Chilkat Center for the Performing Arts in 1980.

An entryway, staircase, hallway, dance studio, offices, restrooms and boardroom were added to the east side of the original barn-shaped structure, and the structure was outfitted with an HVAC ventilation and emergency sprinkler systems. 

Besides a space for theater and music events, the Chilkat Center houses local radio station KHNS. The dance studio and lobby are used for karate, yoga, NIA, and strength classes. Two church groups use the facility for services, and another runs a food bank in the shop behind the stage. The renovated lobby, with its large picture windows facing Portage Cove, hosts small concerts and is used as a meeting room.

Professional musicians over the years have lauded the theater as one of the best acoustic spaces in the state.