Alaska Development News

[Scba]

Barrow must be a...fun...place to build in. Yikes.

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by Scba

Barrow must be a...fun...place to build in. Yikes.

Yeah, it's tough because of the climate so a lot of what goes in there is fabricated in sections and transported to the site for assembly. I'm not sure how much of this hospital fits that description since it will take 4 years to build it!



Looks like a modular pre-fab...

[diablo234]

Plans for the Cordova Center in Cordova which is to house a museum, library, auditorium, conference and meeting space, plus city hall offices. It is scheduled to be completed next year.

[Scba]

Wow, that looks nice

[diablo234]

A new hotel with a full service restaurant opens in Kotzebue.

NANA Development opens new 'a place to rest' 78-room hotel
The Associated Press
http://www.adn.com/2011/08/31/204274...w-a-place.html
Published: August 31st, 2011 09:20 PM
Last Modified: August 31st, 2011 09:21 PM

KOTZEBUE -- A subsidiary of the regional Native corporation for northwest Alaska has opened a new hotel in Kotzebue.

NANA Development Corp. on Monday opened the Nullagvik Hotel after two years of construction.

The facility has 78 guest rooms, including seven suites.

The company said the facility will provide modern, high-tech meeting space for up to 100 people, an observation area and a fitness center.

The hotel includes a full-service restaurant overlooking Kotzebue Sound, with a private dining room available for small meetings or celebrations.

Nullagvik in an Inuipiaq word meaning "a place to rest."

The hotel replaced the original Nullagvik Hotel, which opened in 1975.

NANA Development is the business arm of NANA Regional Corp.

[diablo234]

Video on the Alaska Railroad extension to Port Mackenzie. Construction was started back in the summer of 2011 with track being laid in 2014 for the entire alignment.

[diablo234]

Some recent photos of the Port of Anchorage expansion.











Photos courtesy of Anchorage Daily News

[diablo234]

A $64 million 'airstrip to nowhere' in the Aleutians?
Published: September 27th, 2011 01:38 PM
Last Modified: September 27th, 2011 01:39 PM
http://www.adn.com/2011/09/27/209169...o-nowhere.html

The village of Akutan in the Aleutian Islands is getting a new $64 million airstrip, but right now, no one is certain how villagers and seasonal workers will get to it. That's because it's being built on an uninhabited island six miles away, across a strait exposed to the stormy Bering Sea, reports Alaska Dispatch. The original plan called for use of a hovercraft, but the Aleutians East Borough is reconsidering because of problems using a similar hovercraft to get King Cove residents to an airport in Cold Bay. One solution being considered for Akutan: a helicopter shuttle.

Fewer than 100 people live year-round in Akutan, but the Trident Seafoods plant there boosts the seasonal population to more than 1,000. PenAir is hoping to use the new airstrip to fly more modern planes to Akutan, replacing the aging workhorse Grumman Gooses that usually make the trip from Dutch Harbor. From Alaska Dispatch:

If they don't find a fix by next summer, they could have a $64 million airstrip in the middle of nowhere. ...

In a recent speech urging Congress to pass a jobs bill, President Obama said, "No more earmarks. No more boondoggles. No more bridges to nowhere," a reference to that famed proposed bridge between Ketchikan and the nearby Gravina Island -- population 50 -- that became a popular symbol for government waste.

With uncertainty swirling around what will connect the new runway to the community it's supposed to serve, and how much the connection could cost, the lonely runway on a wild island in the middle of the Aleutians might find itself newly infamous.

..

[Dr.Clang]

Hi guys! Any progress with Augustine Energy Center?

[USAPatriot]

http://www.djc.com/news/co/12049545.html

[zaphod]

So what is the new rail line going to be for? Tourist trains, or will there be some kind of new port or industrial facility?

Has commuter rail ever been considered for Anchorage-Matsu area? Obviously the city doesn't have a huge population or traffic congestion or job density to justify a normal system, but with passenger trains plying that route anyways wouldn't it be possible to add an extra car to the end of trains for commuters?

Also if they ran something like the Hurricane Turn but more day-trip like, and only charged like 10 bucks for a ticket there's a different class of tourist who would use it. More adventurey people who'd get off at some flag stop to go fishing or hiking rather than grandma and grandpa on a cruise-rail package vacation.

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by USAPatriot

http://www.djc.com/news/co/12049545.html

:S

[desertpunk]

New UAA Sports Complex Named ‘Alaska Airlines Center’

APRN - Anchorage | March 21, 2013 - 5:19 pm

The new sports complex currently under construction at the University of Alaska Anchorage now has a name – the Alaska Airlines Center. UAA and Alaska Airlines announced the $6.3 million partnership on Thursday.

Though the new athletic facilities will bear the name of the airline, the money is dedicated to helping out with other aspects of UAA’s athletic department. One-million dollars of the deal will go towards creating a new scholarship endowment for UAA student athletes.

UAA Athletic Director Steve Cobb says there are approximately 200 student athletes at UAA, over 75 percent of whom receive at least partial scholarship support. Once the endowment is fully funded, it will yield approximately $40,000 in new scholarship money annually. Alaskans will have the top priority. “The way our averages are now, and most of our athletes are on partials, it would be seven additional athletes who would be able to give our average amount of aid to,” Cobb said. Currently, the average amount of aid the athletic department awards is a little less than a half scholarship.

The remaining $5.3 million is slated to assist with travel costs for the 13 athletic programs at UAA. According to UAA Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Megan Olson, those costs are as much as three times as much as schools in the Lower 48.

[...]

Work on the arena is already underway:


http://www.adn.com/2013/03/21/283484...-airlines.html

[desertpunk]

Alaska starts $131M SLAM project

February 8, 2013

Alaska starts $131M SLAM project
By JOURNAL STAFF

Crews last month broke ground on the building phase of the $131.45 million SLAM project,
which integrates three units of the Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums into
a new building in Juneau.

Crane's up:


http://juneauempire.com/local/2013-0...oto-slam-crane

[desertpunk]

New Barrow replacement hospital

Open for business this June...4 years after pilings were driven into the permafrost!


http://bensbarrowblog.blogspot.com/


http://bensbarrowblog.blogspot.com/

[ZKB9]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Alaska starts $131M SLAM project





Crane's up:


http://juneauempire.com/local/2013-0...oto-slam-crane

Love it! Juneau has a great location, If it had a larger population it could see a few midrise condos get built!

[Northern Pyro]

Please point me to the right thread if I am in the wrong place.
Interior Alaska, mainly Fairbanks, construction news

Taken directly from: ww.newsminer.com/news/dermot_cole/saturday-open-house-highlights-summer-road-construction/article_0e195c14-a8bd-11e2-8b7c-0019bb30f31a.html?TNNoMobile

Illinois Street: The new Noyes Slough bridge will be completed and the old one will be removed. Among the other tasks are repaving the roadway from Golden Valley Electric Association to College Road, landscaping, some sidewalk work and the installation of artwork in the new park along the river.
Goldstream Road: The 10-mile road will be repaved from Murphy Dome Road to the Steese Highway. The shoulders will be widened by two feet on each side from Woodbine Drive to the Steese Highway, a 6-mile stretch.
The O’Connor Creek Bridge will be replaced, while the Goldstream Creek Bridge will be improved.
HC Contractors is the apparent low bidder on the $19.6 million job.
Nordale Road: The road is to be repaved between the Chena River and Chena Hot Springs Road, an effort that is expected to continue to next year.
Steese Highway: The Steese Highway from near Chena Hot Springs Road to Fox will be repaved, and the guardrails and signs are to replaced.
Bentley Mall area: The road behind the Bentley Mall and Sam’s Club will be reconstructed with a roundabout located north of Sam’s Club to which Helmericks will extend across the railroad tracks, providing new access to the new box stores.
The Helmericks and Herb Miller intersection also will be reconstructed with a roundabout. A traffic signal will be placed at the Bentley Trust Road and Old Steese intersection. Sidewalks are planned.
Wickersham Street: The stretch from First Avenue to Third Avenue is to be reconstructed. The sections of Second Avenue and Third Avenue between Cowles Street and Barnette Street are to be reconstructed with new water, sewer, district heat, storm drain pipes and better sidewalks.
Skyline Drive: The road will be repaved from Farmers Loop to the top of the hill at Skyridge Drive, about two miles.
Bike paths: The bike path along Chena Pump Road will be repaved from Grebe Avenue to the Tanana River pullout. The Pioneer Park bike path and the First Avenue bike paths will be repaved. Pedestrian and bike trails in North Pole are to be expanded and repaved.
North Pole: East Fifth Avenue, Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue will be reconstructed.
Driveway Street: Driveway, Terminal and Pioneer street will be reconstructed. If the money holds out, other streets in Brandt Subdivision may be improved.
Slaterville: The Slaterville streets north of Minnie Street are to be reconstructed. On the south side, the work will include Betty Street and the east ends of Well and Slater Streets.
City sidewalks: Pedestrian improvements are planned on Tenth Avenue, McGown Street, Kellum Street and Cowles Street. Sidewalks will be constructed on these streets with new asphalt pavement and a Rapid Flashing Rectangular Beacon at the Cowles/McGown intersection. This is a relatively new signal to assist pedestrians crossing mid-block or at intersections without traffic lights. One of these beacons has been installed on Lathrop Street outside the new Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center.

[ScraperDude]

What is the draw for the low rise development in midtown Anchorage? I was there about 3 years ago and it gave Anchorage a more urban feel than I expected but I was wondering why all the new projects go in there and not around downtown? Any locals know?