With some of their worst fears about the economic recession behind them, the board of Sitka’s Sawmill Cove Industrial Park would like to begin moving forward again.
About twenty-five Sitkans joined the board for its October meeting on Thursday afternoon (10-20-11), as it was held outdoors on a walking tour of the site.
Even when this was a working pulp mill, Sawmill Cove must have been one of the most beautiful industrial locations in the country. On a mild autumn afternoon, as golden sunshine paints the terminal dust on the peaks of Bear and Cross mountains – all of it mirrored in the reflecting pool of Silver Bay – park director Garry White is trying to paint a picture of his own.
“If you can imagine from right about here over to the edge, they’ll put in fill with a sheet pile bulkhead. And then put down two dolphins. That will be about $6-and-a-half million bucks. That would allow freight to come over this dock, it would allow Silver Bay to move their fish from here, if the bottling company gets back up it would allow water to move across. So that’s the plan, to get this into an active port, and then we can have the conversation about whether we need another cruise dock in the community. And it could go here with additional infrastructure.”
The idea of a cruise ship dock is so volatile in Sitka that the Sawmill Cove board has felt hamstrung in trying to build support for a sheet pile bulkhead for freight that could be conceivably used for cruise ships. And while it might make sense to build a barge landing out here to stage rock and materials for the Blue Lake dam expansion, White says no money has been budgeted for the idea, and the materials will likely be landed at the other end of the road system, and trucked through town.
Longtime Sawmill Cove board member Charles Horan, however, told me he’s betting that new industry at the park will emerge from areas where Sitka is already strong.
“The most likely growth is going to come from the resource development we see in town. We have water, we have fish, we have the scenery, and we have wood. Historically, that’s really been our basis. The real growth we’ve seen has come out of those things. The growth at the park has been the fish, you know, Silver Bay’s increase, and even before them we had other processors. They’ve increased their bunkhouse, now they’re providing storage for fishermen for their nets and things like that. We’ve seen opportunities for capturing more of the marine services market, which is what’s here and just needs to grow.”
KCAW – “So, you’ve kind of seen the writing on the wall, and it’s not necessarily someone from Dubai with a water tanker, it’s continuing to nurture the industries we’re already good at?”
“Ninety-percent of probable growth will come from those. Now, we’re always open for that ten percent – that guy from Dubai who needs fresh water. We’ve got it, and we’ll sell it.”
Despite fairly routine inquiries from around the world, water bottling and bulk water have more or less evaporated as a solid business prospect at the park, and they seem to have dried up as immediate and reliable opportunities for growth.
Alexander Allison came on the tour as an interested citizen. He agrees that the park should focus on what Sitka has, and what it stands to lose.
“I’m on the Port and Harbors commission and I live in the harbor. I’ve got a lot of friends in the commercial fleet and I’d really like to see the marine services industry take root out here to support that fleet. Right now, we’re losing a lot of our fleet. The harbor turns into more and more of a ghost town as boats go to Wrangell and further points south to get all kinds of work done. And those kinds of things that are being done down there are things that could be done here. It’s not just that boat leaving town: It’s all the money, the families going with them, it’s all kinds of work for people in Sitka that leaves with them. We need to save the fleet, basically. And I see creating that marine services industry here as a way to do that.”
Less Silver Bay Seafoods and the water bottling plant, which are now both privately owned, Sawmill Cove has about 20 acres of prime industrial waterfront available, and about 30 acres of available land off the water, which will be more difficult to develop.
Only two assembly members attended today’s walking tour, along with a smattering of other Sitka officials. Nevertheless, Sawmill board chairman Grant Miller hopes that policy makers in Sitka will get the message, and put the park higher on their list of priorities. Sawmill Cove is ten years into a twenty-year development plan. Miller thinks the possibilities are here, and it’s time to act.
“It’s hard to wait. Some of us seem like we’ve been waiting for a long time for something to happen here.”
