I am a fourth-generation Alaskan and architect who is extremely grateful for our Alaska history. But we now find a catch. Anchorage is not proud of its history. “How can this be possible,” you ask? Well, Anchorage loves visiting history in other places, but it has not yet matured to stand up and preserve its own physical history.
We have very, very few properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places and yet we easily allow developers to strategically demolish historic infrastructure, like the plan for the historic 4th Avenue Theatre. This is infrastructure that out-of-state visitors and tourists already want to see, but are locked out as it has been intentionally mothballed for decades. Now a terrible new design with a fake façade by non-Alaskan architects has tempted the support of the current political leadership and includes the demolition of our beloved history. I know no matter what I say, the 4th Avenue Theatre demolition is coming, but here is what Anchorage needs to understand that citizens and tourists elsewhere already understand: Historic buildings are the same thing as historic artifacts inside a museum. They are equally important to historians, scientists and poets.
No one would want to destroy Benny Benson’s first Alaska flag, yet Anchorage simply rolls over and submits to the demolition of Cap Lathrop’s 4th Avenue Theatre. Once a rare historic building is demolished, it is 100% permanently gone for all future generations, and a fake building façade in the new design does not change this. The additional tragedy is that historic preservation is one of the few remaining causes where conservatives and liberals are found to unite. Please go touch the theater’s exterior stone before out-of-state architects take it away from you.
— Jobe Paul Bernier
Anchorage
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