The borough was awarded a $421,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday, Nov. 3, which will go toward planning and engineering work for a deepwater port at the former sawmill site at 6-Mile.
The grant covers an environmental risk assessment, permitting, assessment of the property’s bulkhead and utility extension requirements and a feasibility study update, according to an Oct. 31 press release from U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
The money won’t go toward actually constructing anything at the site, Harbormaster Steve Miller explained at the Nov. 2 port commission meeting. Instead, it will begin the long preconstruction planning process.
“Whenever this next round (of grant funding) comes out, we can apply again,” said Miller. “And now that we’ve got this planning going on, we can get more funding for a project out there. It takes all of these steps to get moving in the direction we want to be going to.”
Construction costs for any major project at the site will be in the millions of dollars.
The borough purchased the 39-acre former mill site in June 2022 for $2.5 million, hoping to put the land to use and provide an economic boost for the community. The area is one of the last existing deepwater industrial sites available for development in the region, but it lacks utilities and has a failing waterfront bulkhead.
Discussions about the property’s future are still underway, but borough officials have considered relocating the barge ramp, which currently occupies prime waterfront real estate downtown, to 6-Mile.
At a public forum in December 2022, community members suggested turning the site into an industrial complex, scrap recycling yard, Coast Guard station or vocational school.
The results of a community survey conducted in August this year suggested that the community has “less of a tolerance — almost none — to expand tourism into that area,” said Economic Development Director Kate Thomas.
The federal grant funds are part of a $72 million investment by DOT in Alaska maritime infrastructure projects, particularly port, harbor and dock improvement and development. Nationwide, 41 port projects are receiving $653 million through the program, which was initiated by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“With more coastline than the rest of the United States combined, maritime infrastructure is critical to our state,” Sullivan said in the Oct. 31 statement. “The large number of grants awarded to our coastal communities is a reflection of Alaska’s dependence on waterfronts and the great need we have across our state for infrastructure improvements.”
Wrangell is one of seven communities throughout the state that received such grants, and its allocation is the smallest. With the exception of the Cape Blossom port in Kotzebue, the rest of the projects are in the construction phase.
The Cold Bay Dock infrastructure replacement project in the Aleutian Islands is the most expensive, at $43.3 million. The money will go toward planning, designing, permitting and replacing the community’s only existing dock, which is the only one in the community.
The Metlakatla Indian Community will receive $3.4 million for improving its port and boat haul-out operation, and Yakutat will receive $8.9 million toward replacing its 60-year-old harbor floats, dock, pilings and other components.
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