Instead of spending half a million dollars to purchase Picture Point and another one or two million in federal tax dollars developing the two acre site, let’s hire some local wood carvers and artists to design and construct two large, colorful, rustic signs. One could be at the ferry terminal announcing, “Welcome to the Haines Scenic Highway: Gateway to the Cathedrals and Alaska’s Interior.” The second sign, located coming up the hill into Haines information would say, “Welcome to Haines: Home of Historic Fort Seward” and date established. It would also save our tax base!
Also, the city and chamber should petition the federal highway department to incorporate two scenic pull-outs into the upcoming highway reconstruction project. Since the cathedrals are the most majestic mountains on the entire Alaska Highway systems, one pull-out could be located at 7 Mile for outbound traffic and the other at 8 Mile for incoming traffic. After all, the cathedrals are 1,000 times more spectacular than the view from “Picture Point!”
Dave Werner