Officials with the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center “got it done enough to open May 14,” executive director Lani Hotch said Saturday.

They are making additions to the center this winter, and working with elders to add artifacts from another clan house next year.

Speaking at the center’s annual fundraiser dinner at the Klukwan ANS Hall, Hotch reported 3,000 visitors have toured the facility since its opening, including cruise passengers from Skagway, through a partnership with Alaska Mountain Guides.

“That’s a great arrangement for us, and we’re expecting more ships in Haines next summer, so that’s exciting,” Hotch said.

Hotch said 24 villagers have worked at the center, which she compared to a total village population of less than 100, including elders. “We’ve been able to employ people in Klukwan.”

Ongoing or pending additions to the center include cabinets to classroom space, waterproof flooring in its mezzanine, Jim Heaton wall panels around the building’s interior entrance and additions to the south portion that serves as a bald eagle preserve visitor’s center.

Visitors who tour the center and adjoining culture camp sometimes are moved to tears, Hotch said. That’s “kind of strange,” Hotch said, “but it may cause (cruise) ships to send more people our way.”

Tours include an interpretive talk, storytelling and dance performances at the culture camp clan house, and a retelling of the Rain Screen story in the exhibit hall which houses the famed Whale House artifacts, including the screen. “They’re pretty involved tours. There’s usually a good exchange.”

The center’s gift shop has raised about $12,000 in income for artists selling creations there, she said.

Hotch wants to increase visitation to at least 7,000 next year. There are still unknowns in the center’s financial picture, including the cost of heating the completed center building through winter. A temporary heating system was used last year.

“It’s hard to set a pricing for our tours. We have an idea, but it’s hard to judge what winter will bring,” Hotch said.

Hotch said the village also may consider establishing bus service to town in the summer for dancers and center workers to get back and forth. Ideally, the bus would make three round-trips a day in summer, she said. “There’s a real need for it. I’m hoping the village will make it happen. I think it would make Klukwan a better place to live.”

The idea may be discussed at an upcoming tribal council meeting, she said.

Hotch said the village hopes to hold tours of the center during the upcoming Alaska Bald Eagle Festival, including lunch at the village hospitality house.

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