Southeast rich in construction projects: most everywhere a cruise ship or ferry docks or airplane lands in Southeast Alaska, something is under construction.

• Author: Colby, Kent L.
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA

Summer blooms in the Panhandle and the building season ramps up to full speed, promising another season of construction projects in towns and villages across the region.

SURF'S UP ON CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTHEAST

"Skagway has been fortunate to see increases in its monthly employment rates since 2000, and this is particularly evident in the winter months where this growth is in the double-digits" says Michael Catsi, Skagway's development corporation director.

Catsi reports that Skagway is busy with projects, including the $800,000 curatorial storage building for the National Park Service. While the city is waiting for design for a new well and booster station, as well as a bus barn, several private-sector projects are feeding the local construction boom. A microbrewery will be housed, along with several other businesses, in one new commercial structure. A residential project was just completed this spring, with the builder, Doland Construction, ramping up for two more. Hamilton Construction is preparing to rebuild the Skagway Ore Terminal in preparation for copper ore shipments expected to begin this July. The same company is finishing the city's $2.3 million sea-walk project.

Several power projects are under way in Southeast, not the least of which is the Alaska Power & Telephone (AP&T) construction of a hydroelectric dam and plant two miles south of Skagway at Kasidaya Creek. Meanwhile, Puffin Electric just completed the Skagway Boat Harbor's upgrade to the tune of $720,000.

There are even bigger projects pending for the northern Southeast hamlet. The city has issued notices to proceed with design and permitting of a wave barrier for the harbor. This project is expected to cost between $2.5 million and $3 million. Design is also under way for a new medical clinic to serve the area. That price tag will top out between $6 million and $8 million.

Referencing the boom in monthly employment, Catsi reports, "I would bet that the increase is mostly due to the health of the construction sector. In a community of our size, these increases have a significant effect."

HIGHEST TIDE IS IN SITKA

If measured by quantity and diversity of projects, the high-five must go to Southeast's on-the-edge-of-the-Inside-Passage city of Sitka.

In boasting of the construction on Baranof Island, Sitka Mayor Marko Dapcevich says, "Sitka has a very diverse population and income base. However, we have a large separation of classes. In other words, a lot of high-income...