Open Letter to Ketchikan City Council By George "Skip" Thompson December 09, 2013
By way of introduction, my name is George Thompson. My Grandfather came to Ketchikan via The Yukon in 1919, and the family has been in boat work here ever since. My wife and I have been life members of The Tongass Historical Society since Mrs. McGillvray's tenure. To say l have been disappointed lately with the Museum operation would be an understatement. For the Alaska Centennial a museum was built and promptly also turned into a library. Now the roof continues to leak, there has been an electrical fire or two, and the heating system is junk. So we build a new library? The Museum has a big staff, but the artifacts aren't well cared for. The finest cooper's adz I have ever seen was in the mineral collection. The opportunity to acquire the finest fishing gear collection went by the wayside. Appears to me we aren't getting much bang for the buck in this department. I think a local museum should reflect what the town is all about. There was saltery and a sawmill here. World War I came along, airplanes were made of spruce. Do we have a springboard, ax or a logging jack? You can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop. Our roads are made of substandard aggregate. As a consequence they fall apart. Ketchikan people boat or fly, be it Alaska Air or bush plane. What do we have of that evolution? Ketchikan was named "The King Salmon Capital of the World". There must have been thousands of different, hand-made, salmon lures. Where is our collection? So what is important to Ketchikan? Fish and fishing - No fish, no boats. It's the prime mover. Timber and logging - KPC brought the first year round employment. Wood is an economic base. Tourism - to me it is the (Pirates of the Caribbean”) the amateur bus drivers, the charter boats that have no idea what 6 knots is. Tourists are here today and gone 9/30. Who pays until spring? If we are going to make our Museum a photo gallery, let's display the unique things in our community. Some cases in point. Ketchikan has $30 million plus in cruise ship docks for five months use per year, but no water or sewer to the city limits in either direction. How many towns haul their garbage up the mountain so the effluent runs back through the town? The street that goes through town has at least 5 names. Where it is called Water Street the utility poles weren't in the middle of the sidewalk so the sidewalk was widened. Check the new promenade across the street. How many towns have a road around their tunnel? There is a long list. Why not capitalize on it? Sincerely, George "Skip" Thompson Received December 06, 2013 - Published December 09, 2013 Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:
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