By Jessica Edwards
A somewhat muddy vision of a Port Chilkoot Dock restroom facility and
pavilion emerged from a joint meeting of the Haines Borough waterfront committee and the
tourism advisory board Friday.
More than 40 attended the meeting, including an engineer and architect
from Juneau. Participants debated the location, function, size and look of the restroom
pavilion, which has been under planning for several years.
Also discussed were a proposed walkway and sidewalk enhancements
between the Port Chilkoot Dock and Lookout Park.
"It’s still a work in progress," said borough manager
Robert Venables after the meeting. Venables said the engineer and architect came away from
the meeting with a better grasp of community concerns and ideas. "They can help us do
some displays and get some options" using what they heard, he said.
At the meeting, Venables said the borough has a $16,000 grant to
research the restroom pavilion project, and about $120,000 for constructing a building.
The final pricetag is uncertain because the project has yet to be defined, he said.
Tony Yorba of Jensen Yorba Lott gave ideas for a six-stall restroom
pavilion structure located north of the Port Chilkoot Dock. He suggested a covered
overhang to keep visitors out of the weather, a central open area with interpretive
displays that could be closed off for security, and signs orienting people towards various
attractions around town.
Providing visitors restrooms along with an interpretive and orienting
facility would accommodate a variety of needs and provide an "anchor-point" for
a proposed walkway to Lookout Park, he said.
Dale Mulford said it was worth considering larger restrooms in order to
expedite tours, which were often detained by long queues.
The restroom pavilion’s location – at or below street level,
and north or south of the dock – proved the biggest sticking point among those in
attendance.
Tourism board members said they worked several years on a restroom and
shelter that would be south of the Port Chilkoot Dock consistent with Fort Seward
architecture. Board member Judy Heinmiller asked why the location had been
"flip-flopped" to the north side of the dock.
Mayor Fred Shields said, "If we like the totem walk concept that
would go from the dock to Totem Park, then it seems natural that the start of it would be
on this (north) side of the dock and you would have an interpretive center in addition to
the bathrooms and the pavilions."
Waterfront committee member Rob Goldberg questioned whether it was
possible to build north of the dock, as the land belongs to the Port Chilkoot Company. The
company owns the four consecutive lots immediately north of the dock, from the edge of the
sidewalk to mean high tide.
Company president Lee Heinmiller said the company was unlikely to favor
construction on its four lots, or other development that would change the character of the
beach. He also said keeping a clear view of the historic telegraph building – Fort
Seward’s oldest structure – was a priority in the historic district.
Heinmiller suggested a restroom south of the dock could be dropped down
toward the beach to mimic a historical boat platform that had existed there. He also said,
according to borough code, the structure needed to be consistent with Fort Seward
architecture.
Tourism advisory board chair Travis Reid said passengers disembarking
from the ship for tours moved south to wait for buses in the parking lot, making south of
the dock the logical location. He said the most useful structure would be at dock level
built back on pilings to maximize parking.
Lenise Henderson-Fontenot said visitors queuing north of the dock would
add to congestion there. She said a pavilion structure north of the dock would block the
view of the telegraph building, which her family owns. "This would mean taking away
my ocean view, and giving me a toilet view, which I am not that excited about."
Debra Schnabel said it would be best to build a structure that
wouldn’t intrude on any viewshed, and visualized an addition that ramped down from
the dock and appeared like an extension of the dock structure. There, the restroom
facilities could be utilized easily from the beach, as well, she said.
Concern about the cost of such a facility was a question of financial
priorities, she said.
"I personally think the north side of the dock is the better spot
for it," said waterfront committee chair Doug Olerud. Locating restrooms in the
parking area south of the dock would create, not alleviate, congestion, and said building
on pilings out onto the beach north of the dock would create space. Olerud said he
preferred a Fort-like aesthetic for the structure.
Tour operator Bart Henderson said putting the restrooms north of the
dock would rile residents. "People are very protective of that beach on the north
side of the dock." He said a lack of borough land precluded building the dock on the
north side.
Yorba advised developing several conceptual schemes.
