A walk worth the wait: Sitka Economic Development Association Garry White (l.) and board member Roger Hames (r.) accompany Gary Paxton down the ramp to the park’s new 250-foot floating dock. Paxton was municipal administrator in the mid-1990s, when the city acquired the former site of the Alaska Pulp Corporation Mill to repurpose as an industrial park. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
Board members of both the Sitka Economic Development Association and the Gary Paxton Industrial Park gathered with the public Thursday afternoon (5-31-18) to cut the ribbon on the park’s latest facility, a huge floating dock.
Municipal engineer Dan Tadic cuts the ribbon on the new Gary Paxton Industrial Park dock, alongside Turnagain Marine Construction project manager Joe Lyman. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
In his remarks, SEDA director Garry White explained that the 250-foot floating dock (a former barge) proved to be the better choice over the sheet-pile bulkhead first envisioned for the site. “The sediments were way too deep for that here,” he said. Public Works director Michael Harmon went out of his way to explain how successful the design/build process worked for Sitka. “There was not a single contractor-generated change order on this project, which came in on time and under budget,” Harmon said. Not mentioned was anything about the lawsuit which may have derailed the federally-funded project: A former mayor, Marko Dapcevich, unsuccessfully argued that the contemporary design/build process was contrary to the low-bid contracting rules spelled out in Sitka’s charter.
Gary Paxton himself (and his wife Debbie) put in an appearance at his eponymous industrial park. Paxton declined Garry White’s offer to speak, but nevertheless appeared quite pleased with the dock, and the role it will play in Sitka’s economic future. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
