Notification on Monday of a $300,000 “top-off” grant from the Murdoch Charitable Trust moves the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center another step toward completion.
“I did a pretty happy dance. That was the last piece of funding we were waiting for,” said Lani Hotch, executive director of the $6 million project to showcase Chilkat Indian art and culture.
Although less than the $600,000 the project had requested from Murdoch, this week’s grant is enough to finish museum work space, an interior workshop area where exhibits are assembled.
“It may be enough to finish the building, but I’m not sure. We’re still waiting for pricing on exhibits to know if we need to raise more money or not,” Hotch said.
Organizers of the project decided recently to open the building in May, following a determination that $1.1 million in tribal transportation funds could be used for the project if the building also served as a visitor’s center for the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.
Hotch is still waiting to hear from the USDA on a $350,000 loan application, but she’s confident those funds are coming. “They’re obligated funds, but (USDA) hasn’t closed on it.”
Hotch said she’s hoping to open the center with four major exhibits. Giving tours at the center is seen as a means of repaying loan funds. To meet funding, some earlier project elements have been set aside, including landscaping, an elevated boardwalk, a plaza area and parking.
Hotch said she could live without those elements for now. “This allows us to bring visitors in. Plus, it’s a pretty spectacular environment without laandscaping. You can’t improve too much on what nature’s provided already.”
Building the center was the biggest element in the village’s 2002 strategic plan, much of which has been completed, including building renovations and construction of a gymnasium, a health clinic and water treatment plant.
“The community has been working together and working for this. The heritage center was our biggest priority but it also had the biggest cost. We did what we could with what we had in hand, and kept moving it forward,” Hotch said.
Funding sources responded to the village’s tenacity, she said, which may be advice for others working on similar projects. “Do what you can with what you have. If you do that, people respect that.”