At a workshop March 13, the Wrangell Port Commission discussed plans for the mariners’ memorial planned for Heritage Harbor.
The Port Commission has yet to finalize a specific design for the project, which will pay homage to those lost at sea. However, last week, Port Commission members talked about their hopes for what the memorial will become.
Commission member Clay Hammer said ideally, the memorial would be crafted using local products and people.
“This is a Wrangell thing, and I think it would be really cool if it was a Wrangell thing made by Wrangell people out of Wrangell stuff,” Hammer said.
Port commission members also discussed how, and to what level, a “native touch” would be incorporated into the design of the memorial.
“The first people to navigate these waters were the traditional natives of the area…so you have to incorporate them,” said Wrangell Port Harbormaster Greg Meissner.
He said the memorial shouldn’t have an “overwhelming” native theme, however.
“I don’t want this to become a native thing or a Russian thing or a fisherman’s thing or a river run thing,” Meissner said. “It’s for those who gave their lives or passed away at sea.”
Hammer also said the point of the memorial was to honor those who lost their lives on the water.
“I want this to be a memorial for the folks that are passed on, and I don’t want us to necessarily lose focus on that and have it become a history lesson,” he said.
Port Commission member Dave Sweat suggested allowing people to incorporate some native symbol on the plaques that would be put on the memorial.
The commission will continue its discussion on the memorial at its next meeting, scheduled for April 5. Meissner said a drawing of the memorial design should be complete by them. That drawing will then be taken to an architect and a cost-estimate will be created in order to use when applying for grants to fund the memorial, Meissner said.
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