In a community dependent on its working harbors, Wrangell is applying for a $5 million state grant to add to a $25 million federal grant it already received to fully cover the cost of rebuilding the downtown harbor, particularly the decades-old Inner Harbor floats.

The overall plan, labeled the Harbor Basin Revitalization and Transportation Resiliency Project, is intended to rebuild the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, add new pilings, fire suppression systems and parking. 

The assembly held a special meeting on Aug. 10 to approve the borough’s application for the $5 million state grant, which would go toward the Inner Harbor portion of the work.

Assembly members voted unanimously to approve the grant application, which was due by Aug. 19.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities municipal harbor facility grant program allows for a maximum request of $5 million. It requires a local match to qualify, and the borough would use the federal grant as the match.

The updated estimate for the Inner Harbor project is nearly $15 million. This includes design, permitting and construction, including land facilities and improvements to parking, according to information presented at the assembly meeting.

The harbor floats were built in the late 1950s, according to a condition report prepared for the borough in 1996. The Inner Harbor is the largest of the four float systems in the downtown harbor, but its old design limits its usefulness.

“The harbor has an antiquated layout, originally designed to serve 1930-1960 vessels, typically around 17 feet. Today’s commercial fishing fleet averages 36 feet,” Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital projects director, explained in her report for the assembly meeting.

“Moorage for vessels 34 to 40 feet in Southeast Alaska is at nearly 0% vacancy, with waitlists up to 10 years. The Inner Harbor revitalization will improve the regional moorage capacity of 34- to 40-foot vessels to meet needs of the local and regional maritime economy.”

The rest of the $25 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant the borough received in 2024 would go to the other pieces of the downtown harbor rebuild.

Once submitted to the state, the grant requests are split into two tiers. Tier 1 — which includes the Inner Harbor project — refers to locally owned harbors in disrepair that were once owned by the state. The state turned over ownership of the Inner Harbor to the borough in 2014, as the state was getting out of owning local harbors.

All projects are then scored during the fall based on a variety of criteria, including operational importance, the applicant’s ability to maintain the facility without state support in the future and whether the proposed project is required to improve the operational safety of the harbor and its facilities. The ranked choices are then sent to the state Legislature for the next legislative session to see whether money will be appropriated for the program.

When the borough applied for the same grant last year, the Inner Harbor replacement project was ranked as the top priority of all submitted projects. But no money was appropriated for the program and no grants were awarded.

Al-Haddad said in an interview that it has been a couple of years since the program has received any legislative funding. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the projects. It’s about the state’s budget.”

With the uncertainty over state money, the borough will continue looking at other funding options. Harbormaster Steve Miller told the assembly that borough staff is looking for other pathways to secure funding.

“We are looking for any additional money that would hopefully be in the form of a grant and not a loan or a bond that would have to be paid back,” Al-Haddad said.