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"RADSTA Ketchikan
Historic District."
Administration/galley
& garage
to be demolished...
"RADSTA Ketchikan
Historic District."
Administration
building & Galley
to be demolished...
"RADSTA Ketchikan
Historic District."
Commanding Officer's building
will not to be demolished.....
photos by Dick Kauffman
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The U.S. Coast Guard
has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), under Section
102 of the National Environmental Policy Act, for the proposed
demolition of buildings and structures at the former Coast Guard
radio station (RADSTA) Ketchikan, located at Pt. Higgins - approximately
13.5 miles north of Ketchikan.
The project as proposed would
demolish several structures that together constitute the "RADSTA
Ketchikan Historic District." Buildings to be demolished
include the administration/galley, the vehicle garage, and the
sewage pumping station. The Commanding Officer's building and
the old armory building will not be demolished.
RADSTA Ketchikan operated as
the Coast Guard's main communications facility in Alaska from
1942 to 1976. With the transfer of control functions and personnel
elsewhere, the RADSTA became largely abandoned. Due to aging
and vandalism, most of the RADSTA structures have seriously deteriorated
and are unsafe to enter, according to information provided by
the Environmental Assessment. Complete renovation of the structures
was found to be infeasible due to costs. Ongoing efforts to keep
out vandals have been unsuccessful, and vandalism has contributed
to the continued deterioration of the historic structures further
exposing the interiors to damaging rains. Demolition was judged
to be the best alternative and will remove dangerously deteriorated
buildings and structures, and ensure safe disposal of the debris
associated with the demolition.
According to the information
presented in the EA, the Coast Guard finds that no significant
impacts to the environment will result from the demolition. The
most significant impact will be the destruction of these historic
buildings.
These several World War II
era buildings and structures constitute a historic district eligible
for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. A Memorandum
of Agreement (MOA) has been developed with the Alaska State Historic
Preservation Office, which stipulates steps to be taken by the
Coast Guard to mitigate these adverse effects. These steps include
written and photographic documentation, as well as architectural
drawings of each historic building or structure. The documentation
will be archived with the Ketchikan Museum and the National Archives.
Demolition is scheduled to
begin in September 2002.
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