The organizing committee for a planned mariners’ memorial will be holding a winter fundraiser this weekend.
A monument dedicated to Wrangell’s lost mariners has been in the making for over a decade. The Port Commission took off with it in 2009, and helped shepherd the concept through the drafting stages, which were completed in 2015. An independent steering committee was subsequently organized, and after receiving tax-exempt status last fall has begun raising money from individuals and businesses to construct the memorial.
Committee member Brennan Eagle said the group has so far raised around $22,000 for the memorial. At its last estimate, its stone plaza, steel memorial wall and planned pavilion could cost $300,000. That would be if it were built by the municipality under a bid framework, Eagle explained.
“We’re working with a contractor right now on what the cost might be, getting another cost estimate on it,” he said.
“There’s going to be a lot of asking for in-kind donations,” Eagle added. These would include building materials and labor, as well as specialized project work like the electrical wiring. The hope is that such contributions will bring down the overall cost. “If you can get some of that stuff donated, it’s as good as the money.”
The committee’s goal is to have enough to begin work in the spring of 2019. The memorial would be constructed on city land near the boat ramp at Heritage Harbor. Eagle said the city is currently working on a use agreement for the memorial, which he anticipates should reach the Port Commission’s agenda when it meets this month. If recommended by commissioners, it would go to the Borough Assembly for its potential approval by late February or early March.
To raise money the memorial committee has been selling support memberships to individuals. It had initially set a goal of 200 memberships last year, a number it has now surpassed.
Support has come from varied sources, committee member Gig Decker noted, with a number of backgrounds.
“I think it’s really been a broad group here in Wrangell,” he said.
Even if they don’t necessarily share a maritime background, Eagle said members are at least united in purpose.
“They feel it would be worth putting a little bit of money into and would make this community a better place,” he said of the memorial. From the start the committee has steered the memorial toward having a more inclusive meaning. “That’s what we’re trying to do here, is something for everybody. So everybody has a connection to it.”
While its members are now seeking out more corporate sponsorships, the committee is still looking to raise new memberships, and so decided to arrange a gathering this weekend.
“We’re doing an auction and appetizer function at the Stikine (Inn) this coming Saturday,” Eagle said.
Starting at 7 p.m. a cash bar and appetizers will be open to members, and volunteers will be selling memberships at the door for those who have not yet lent support.
The group will also have 10 items to auction off, including round-trip tickets from Alaska Airlines, vacation and travel packages, and even a boat haul-out with the Marine Service Center’s 150-ton machine. Proceeds will go toward the construction fund and the memorial’s upkeep.
Eagle added the event will be an opportunity for members to share what their interest is in constructing a new memorial.
“Each board member is going to be there to give our little personal spiel as to why we’re involved. And we want to hear from other people too,” he said.
One of the concepts for the memorial will be the eventual recording of such stories, which will be preserved and made available in a digital format.
“The biggest thing is going to get them recorded right now,” he said. “There’s still a lot of parts and pieces to work through.”
“I look forward to the stories. That’s the part of it I really like,” said Decker. “We’re going to have a chance to get up and talk about the reasons that this is important to them, and maybe even some of the stories that they’re going to bring forward.”
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