The Haines Borough won’t assume ownership of the Fort Seward Parade Grounds anytime soon.

After months of discussing a potential acquisition of the historic property from Alaska Indian Arts (AIA), the nonprofit that owns the Parade Grounds, borough manager Annette Kreitzer this week announced that the borough was withdrawing from negotiations.

Since last November, Kreitzer had been working out terms of a land transfer with AIA, which owes nearly $40,000 in taxes on the property.

Kreitzer said she decided to pull out of the discussion due to a lack of interest from the Haines Borough Assembly and some public opposition to the idea of subdividing the property, which encompasses two lots: a seven-acre field and a one-acre commercial parcel.

Under a tentative memorandum of agreement released last fall but never finalized, the borough would have acquired the Parade Grounds field but not the smaller commercial parcel.

“The Borough Assembly has shown no interest in pursuing ownership of the Parade Grounds or facilitating any subdivision of the area,” Kreitzer wrote in a July 22 letter to AIA president Lee Heinmiller. “In fact, there has been public testimony opposing any subdivision of the Parade Grounds or other action that could endanger the Parade Grounds’ status as a National Historic site.”

Prior to Kreitzer’s decision not to pursue acquisition of the Parade Grounds, the borough assembly had not taken a formal position on the agreement, but the body unanimously voted Tuesday to endorse Kreitzer’s letter to Heinmiller.

Assembly member Debra Schnabel told Kreitzer at a personnel committee meeting Tuesday that in the letter to Heinmiller “it seemed that you were making a statement about something the assembly decided on” even though the assembly hadn’t given direction.

Kreitzer said she had asked the assembly for direction, which it didn’t offer, signaling a lack of interest in the acquisition.

“What I saw from the assembly was that we’re not really interested in pursuing it,” she said. Assembly member Paul Rogers agreed with that interpretation Tuesday, saying assembly members last fall had expressed concerns about moving toward acquiring the Parade Grounds.

If the December agreement had been finalized, the borough would have forgiven taxes on the Parade Grounds rather than foreclosed on it.

“Our attorney has advised us to move forward with foreclosure proceedings to offer AIA the opportunity to pay the past due taxes,” Kreitzer wrote to Heinmiller last week. “I’m hopeful that AIA will be able to work with other partners to facilitate the payment of the past due property taxes for 2017-2019 and then to tackle the remaining balances.”

Kreitzer’s letter asks AIA to remit more than $18,384 in property taxes, penalty and interest from 2017-2019. The organization owes the borough a total of $39,229, including taxes since 2020, Kreitzer said.

Heinmiller said on Tuesday that AIA hadn’t ironed out a detailed plan for the future of the Parade Grounds – and a solution to the taxes owed — but he was optimistic that a handful of meetings in the coming days and weeks would prove fruitful.

He named Chilkoot Indian Association as a potential partner, especially in rebuilding the Chilkat Tribal House at the bottom of the Parade Grounds, on the one-acre commercial parcel.

Chilkoot Indian Association tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette could not be reached for comment by press time.

Various Fort Seward stakeholders have different visions for the Parade Grounds.

AIA approached the borough last year about transferring the land as an alternative to paying back taxes. But members of the Gregg family, longtime Fort landowners, have voiced opposition to subdividing the property, citing concerns about maintaining its historic preservation status.

Tensions over the Parade Grounds reached a high in May when Port Chilkoot Company board members opposed to subdividing the land were voted off by majority shareholders.

The board shrunk from nine members to five, and the family of board president Lee Heinmiller (who is also AIA president) took over a majority share of the seats.