Rural Alaska

To help fund fire protection for iconic Unalaska church, congregation considers starting AirBnB on church grounds

Airbnb, the international online home rental service, could be coming to a historic building in Unalaska, with the guest revenues helping to fund a fire suppression system in the adjacent Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, according to parishioner David Gregory.

But first, a charitable group from the National Fund for Sacred Places will visit the community on May 3.

The water mist fire suppression system would be inside a new building on the church grounds, with an estimated cost of three-quarters-of-a-million dollars. The National Fund will provide $250,000 in funding, but only if another $500,000 is raised in matching funds, Gregory said.

The church's last major preservation project, about 25 years ago, was done mostly with federal highway dollars, but Gregory said that won't happen again. This time, the big money is coming from the pharmaceutical industry, via the private foundation administering the proceeds of Prozac.

The funding agency is looking for a strong local commitment to preserve the historic 19th century church, according to Gregory, who hopes the visiting philanthropists are warmly welcomed when they visit the Aleutian Islands community next week.

That's where the Bishop's House bed and breakfast comes in. Airbnb's website says two homes are already advertised as renting through the service, one on the Front Beach and the other in Unalaska Valley.

Once the fire suppression system is in place, there's still annual maintenance costs of $6,000 to $10,000, potentially paid by guest rentals from the Bishop's House, Gregory said. The rectory was built in 1882 as a home for priests, but hasn't been used as a residence since the 1940s, according to the National Park Service's Historic American Building Survey. During World War II, it served as officers' quarters.

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In an earlier fundraising appeal this month, the church's priest, Father Evon Bereskin asked the Unalaska City Council for $50,000 toward the fire suppression system.

The water mist system's total cost is $750,000, and a donation of $250,000 is pending from the National Fund for Sacred Places. However, to get the quarter of a million, another half-million dollars in matching funds is needed, according to the application from the Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska group, acting on behalf of the Holy Ascension Restoration Committee.

"The Hi Fog company is internationally known for fire suppression of cultural and historical sites. It utilizes high pressure water instead of high volume to reach the seat of the fire, cool the air and block the heat to prevent icon damage," according to the grant application for city nonprofit group funding.

Bereskin, Unalaska's Russian Orthodox priest, said the water tanks and pumps would be housed in a separate building, hopefully a new building that looks like the old customs house that was formerly located in front of the church.

Not only would the new building contain fire suppression equipment, but could also serve as a bookstore and coffee shop, he said.

Gregory cited a similar fundraising operation elsewhere in Alaska – paid tours of the Russian Orthodox church in Kenai.

"Fire has already devastated some of our oldest church and historical sites in the state," according to the grant application. "After many years of planning and fundraising we have begun the process of designing and installing a special high fog water mist fire suppression system that will protect the church from the fire and will mitigate some of the damaging effects of a regular water sprinkler system."

In addition to a fire suppression system, plans call for the restoration of the historic Bishop's House located on the church grounds, bringing the total bill to $1.3 million. That project alone is budgeted for $300,000, including new electric wiring and connections to city water and sewer lines.

Launched last year with grants totaling $14 million from the Indiana-based Lilly Endowment Inc., the Philadelphia-based National Fund for Sacred Places will offer planning grants, professional services, and capital grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to a minimum of 50 congregations over four years.

The endowment was funded by the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company, famed as the manufacturer of Prozac, a popular drug for depression treatment.

The Holy Ascension Restoration Committee was founded in 1991 to fix the deteriorating roofs of the church's cupolas, which were in danger of toppling at the time. In a creative interpretation, the state found $1.2 million in federal highway funding, through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act, also called "ice tea," after its initials.

Gregory said the highway funding-funded repairs were a one-time deal, and won't happen again. He said they were promoted by former Gov. Wally Hickel, after touring the church with his wife, Ermalee, in the early 1990s. They visited during a rain storm, and water was dripping inside. Appalled, Ermalee pressed her husband to take action, Gregory said.

"She said, 'Wally, you and I are going to fix this church,'" Gregory said. The funding was justified as a transportation enhancer because the road to the church, East Broadway, was being paved for the first time as a state transportation department project. The Alaska Department of Transportation even paid a construction superintendent to oversee the cathedral improvements.

Other organizations helped with the 1990s project, but by far, most of the money came from the government transportation funding.

Another $250,000 is expected from the Rasmuson Foundation, said Bereskin.

Support for the city grant application was voiced by Mayor Frank Kelty, and city council members Jim Fitch and David Gregory. Gregory is a church official and board member of ROSSIA (Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites of Alaska), which funds restoration work in Russian Orthodox churches statewide. The city council only listened to funding requests from nonprofit groups last week, and will decide on whether to award the grants at a later meeting.

Holy Ascension, a National Historic Landmark, was constructed in 1896. Through the generations, fisherman have looked upon Holy Ascension — located in Unalaska, the largest city of the Aleutian islands — as a symbol of their safe return to land, according to the fund.

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The oldest cruciform-style Orthodox church in North America, Holy Ascension holds over 200 icons, books and relics, some of which date to the 16th century.

This story was originally published in the Bristol Bay Times and is republished here with permission. 

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