SEWARD -- Once a lively place where children lived, worked and played, the Jesse Lee Home in Seward now sits empty and desolate, enclosed within the confines of a tall chain-link fence.
Inside the once-white stucco walls of the buildings, the design of the Alaska state flag was created by a young Benny Benson. Those walls now are scarred in places with spray-painted graffiti.
Shadows and pillars peek through the many open windows, now devoid of glass panes or shutters.
What remains of the Seward Jesse Lee Home, originally built during the summer of 1925, is flanked by modern apartment buildings and single-family homes in one of Seward's more densely populated subdivisions.
Even though cars frequently drive past around the curve on Dora Way and the sounds of families and children living nearby can be heard, the Jesse Lee Home is an eerie place.
Traces of the graceful architecture of bygone days remain, with stunning woodwork, vaulted ceilings and original fireplaces still intact. But the site has about it the heavy air of deterioration and neglect.
It's a sad reality for a nationally recognized historic site.
A home and school that began operations in 1890 in Unalaska, the Jesse Lee Home once provided refuge and educational opportunities for hundreds of Alaska Native children, many of them victims of tuberculosis and influenza epidemics.
It remained open until 1964, when it closed following the Good Friday earthquake.
For the place that many Alaska children once knew as their only home, realistic efforts are finally being made not only to save the crumbling buildings from further deterioration but to refurbish and restore them for a new life.
Friends of the Jesse Lee Home, a nonprofit group based in Anchorage, is the strongest force in the battle against time and gravity in making a new future for the home as a statewide leadership school for Alaska students.
The group includes legislators, educators and members of Alaska communities with a vested interest in seeing the home resurrected for new use.
The Friends have contracted with the Alaska Community Foundation to provide sound financial management and nonprofit support. Members include representatives from Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region Inc., the Office of Children's Services and members of the Seward community.
Dorene Lorenz, a former Seward City Council member and an active member of Friends of the Jesse Lee Home, has been instrumental in promoting the cause.
Increased public awareness and the Friends' activism have earned the home a place in the 2007 State of Alaska's budget, with expected funds to provide roughly a third of the cost to stabilize the buildings to protect them from further decay.
Lorenz said this statewide recognition and funding is a huge step.
"Now the struggle is on to stay there with the change of leadership, through the legislative process," she said.
The effort currently being made by the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home isn't the first one in the 40 years that the buildings have been vacant. Private developers have sought to turn the buildings into apartments, a hotel, a museum and a senior housing complex.
According to the 2003 Historic Structure report conducted by ECI Hyer Inc., an architectural firm in Anchorage, each of the proposed projects was eventually abandoned because of the high cost of proper basic restoration of the buildings.
But with the current plans of the Friends to submit a charter school application to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in the coming year, as well as for a charter school planning grant from the Department of Education and Early Development, relief may finally be in store for the home.
Tom Swann, a member of the Seward Historic Preservation Commission, which made the Jesse Lee Home its highest priority in 2006, told the Seward City Council late last year that he'd conducted his own informal survey, knocking on doors to ask Seward residents to sign a petition to support saving the home.
He collected 50 signatures in one afternoon.
"Only one person said no," Swann said, "and said to go ahead and knock it down."
Though each governing body, legislator and educational institution that has been approached by the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home has indicated support of the home's restoration, it is continued financial support and participation from Alaska's residents that will make the difference in whether the historic landmark survives.
"If this is the legacy we leave behind for Alaska," said Lorenz, "we will die knowing our efforts made a definitive difference to our state's future."
A timeline of the Jesse Lee Home in Alaska
1890 -- Professor and Mrs. John Tuck, Methodist missionaries, open a home for children in a cottage in Unalaska. It is eventually named The Jesse Lee Memorial Home, after an early Methodist minister.
1922 -- Sixty-seven children live at the Jesse Lee Home, which has grown to include several buildings, including separate boys and girls dormitories. The population of Unalaska is 300.
1924 -- Methodist leaders of the Jesse Lee Home decide to move the facility to a more convenient location in Alaska. Seward is chosen for its proximity to transportation lines and shipping services.
1925 -- New Jesse Lee Home is built in Seward on 100 acres of donated land, with help from Seward residents. The new facility is opened on Nov. 2, with three teachers and 85 students.
1926 -- Seward home is dedicated and student population rises to 94.
1927 -- On July 9, the first Alaska flag, designed by 15-year-old resident Benny Benson, is flown over the Jesse Lee Home as part of the dedication of Jewel Guild Hall. The hall was built with funds raised by children across the United States.
1934 -- Jesse Lee Home establishes a homestead in the Homer area as a self-sustaining cattle and produce farm to benefit its residents.
1942-1945 -- Jesse Lee Home is closed at the order of the U.S Army for the duration of World War II. The home's population is more than 100 children. They are sent to foster homes and other residential schools.
1964 -- During the Good Friday earthquake, portions of the home's buildings were severely damaged. Churches throughout the United States raised $1.6 million for earthquake relief, but instead of being used to repair the Seward facility, the money was channeled into programs that eventually led to the formation of Alaska Children's Services in 1970.
1966 -- The Jesse Lee Home in Seward closes and a smaller, more specialized facility opens in Anchorage.
1972 -- Goode Hall, one of the original Jesse Lee Home buildings severely damaged in the earthquake, is condemned and torn down. Only two of the buildings and connecting arcades remain standing.
1990 -- A 100th birthday celebration for the Jesse Lee Home is held in Anchorage.
1995 -- The Jesse Lee Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. At this point, the home has been vacant and exposed to the elements for 30 years.
2002 -- The Alaska State Legislature passes HB 96, recognizing the Jesse Lee Home as a site of historic significance for Alaska.
2003 -- A study by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources determines the remaining structures are structurally sound. A report prepared by an architectural firm estimates stabilization costs at $10 million.
2005 -- The Seward City Council unanimously approves resolutions of support for the preservation of the Jesse Lee Home as a city priority and authorizes city administrative support to seek and apply for grants.
2006 -- Friends of the Jesse Lee Home group is officially formed in February. Periodic meetings, open to the public, are held to discuss fundraising and planning for stabilization and restoration of the home, now owned by the City of Seward. In October, the Kenai Peninsula Borough approves a resolution of support. Grant money is awarded from the Rasmuson Foundation, and Seward pledges $13.5 million in its 2007 budget for restoration and development.
Source: Alaska Newspapers Inc.
