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| The Portico Group | | The Seward Waterfront Study in 2003 identified potential locations in downtown Seward for the Mary Lowell Center Multi-Agency Facility |
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Kenai Fjords National Park, along with partners including the Seward Ranger District of Chugach National Forest and the City of Seward, is in the process of planning a multi-agency visitor center and administrative facility in downtown Seward. The Mary Lowell Center will provide one-stop-shopping for area visitors, expanded educational opportunities and centralized permitting as well as a City operated conference center. It will replace existing NPS and USFS facilities that are no longer adequate to meet current visitation and staffing levels. It is hoped that the center's location will benefit the community by contributing to downtown revitalization efforts.
Project Status: In the past year there have been several changes affecting this project:
- In September, 2007 the USFS revised its plans for participating in the Mary Lowell Center due to downsizing operations in Seward. While still a partner in the project, the amount of office space for USFS personnel in the Center was dramatically reduced along with their projected share of operations and maintenance costs for the facility.
- On February 11, 2008 the Seward City Council passed a resolution expressing a preference for a design that does not require building across Washington Street. This reversed the direction given to the MLC partners in the City’s 2003 resolution.
- In addition, the MLC partners wanted to consider a design that could be built in phases since it is uncertain whether the entire amount required to complete the project will be funded in a single appropriation.
Due to these program changes, the Mary Lowell Center Partners conducted a second mini-value analysis in May 2008. The results of the mini-VA will give clear direction to the Architecture and Engineering team about the revised concept for the building including its location and configuration.
Two preferred alternatives were identified. One is a single three-story building on the current site of the Legends Building and the other is a two story Visitor Center/Conference Facility on the Legends site and a two story administrative building on the Harbor Dinner Club/Mai property site on the east side of 5th Avenue.
Design: The Portico Group, A&E firm for the project, will develop 2 schematic designs based on these alternatives. They will present these designs to the public at an open house on Thursday July 24 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Legends of the Mountain in Seward.
The new schematic design will be brought before the NPS Development Advisory Board in November 2008.
Funding: Funding for the entire cost of construction has not occurred. Estimates for construction of the earlier design were upwards of $21 million. The FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill signed by the President contained approximately $2 million for the project.
Site Preparation: In anticipation that some construction funding may occur, the NPS has begun to look at site preparation needs. In every alternative considered to date, all of the buildings on the properties acquired for the project would be removed. The NPS is unable to engage in restoration of a building unless it is found that once restored it would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
To date all the buildings have been made available to federal, state, and local agencies for removal in accordance with surplus property guidelines. Hazardous Material mitigation has been completed for both the Harbor Dinner Club and the Solly’s buildings. The Harbor Dinner Club has already been made available to the general public for salvage or removal. A demolition contract is pending. Prior to demolition, Solly's will also be made available to the public for salvage or removal. Legends and the Mai Residence will remain through a portion of the construction of a new facility based upon their value to current operations or construction administration.
The park has received two offers to exchange the Solly’s building for other properties in Seward. At this time the NPS does not have a signed agreement to proceed with preliminary land exchange activities.
Planning Documents:
The following documents are in Adobe PDF format. if you do not have Acrobat Reader.
(PDF file 6.53MB)
(PDF 4.06 MB)
(PDF 1.49 MB)
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