Contributed by Bruce Walden
For decades, the people of our state have been trying to move the capital. Typically, most of the folks outside of Juneau vote in favor of the move. But each time, though support for the move is overwhelming, the same answer is given: It would cost too much. I think the last figure given was around $4.5 billion, but please correct me if I’m wrong there.
Hmm. I love numbers. Let’s crunch a few, shall we? To my thinking, if we move the capital, it should be moved to the Mat-Su, smack in the middle of our two major population centers. And the new capital would be named for the man who made the first serious move toward statehood in 1916 - Wickersham. One looks across the Knik Arm from Anchorage and there are many thousands of acres of vacant land upon which we might lay out and build a capital from the ground up. If so, what would be the cost? We’ll estimate the price of the land last of all.
A new capitol building, to my way of thinking would look like the one designed by Miss Marianne Cusato of Anchorage and which resembles a Russian-style building. See: www.tndtownpaper.com/Volume7/alaska_deserves.htm. Let’s assume it would be 170,000 square feet and would go let’s say seven times the going price for construction. That’s a bit better than $170 mil.
Okay, let’s say we build a new governor’s mansion. A state’s top exec should live in a nice home that impresses visitors. That Antebellum Mansion in Juneau, well… Let’s say we do as I would have done and build a duplicate of Kokomo, Indiana’s Seiberling Mansion as it is in some of my books. It has 11,000 square feet, but let’s say it’s the size of the one in existence - 14,000 square feet and let’s say it goes for ten times the normal price of construction. You are talking around $21,000,000.
And let’s say we build a huge log home for the Lt. Gov for $7 million.
Oh, and the Supreme Court building, say another $40 million. Then nice homes for those three to live in. For another $6 million.
Now, the state has 28 folks in the legislature from outside of core area. That’s 9 senators and 19 reps. Round it up to 30. And let’s say we built a nice apartment building, so that each of them had a 2,500 square foot apartment to live in while in session so they no longer rob us for per diem, and we spend five times the norm to build it. That’s a bit more than $56 mil.
And you’d need housing for the top military folks’ offices and you’d need other office space. So, let’s say another building of similar cost. Not including the price of the land, roads between the points or landscaping. You are now at around $357,000,000.
Throw in the price to move sixty folks, lock, stock and barrel for a whopping million per. That’s another $60 mil. Add a liberal $20 million for raw land and another $50 for landscaping and roads (see my December article on the price of roads). You are now at $487 million.
When you consider the money this state blows every year sending these folks on boondoggles or per diem - $233 times 57 legislators - we blow as they go into special session after special session. And they wind up voting on such things as making the 30.06 the official rifle of the state or that insane Alaska Marmot Day joke. Alaska, you can do better. You have been lied to and you’ve been robbed. But the people are beginning to wake up and wise up.
We’re not going to ask that the capital be moved anymore. We’re going to demand it. You legislators were hired to do the work of the people and you folks in Juneau haven’t been doing it. The last reason given to not move the capital is the tired old chestnut of, “Well, Juneau would become a ghost town.” The thing is, a city is a place where people dwell. If the people who work for the state move to Wasilla, Willow or Wickersham, those same people would still be working, but they’d be under our steady gaze, not hiding in Juneau where they are bought and paid for by lobbyists.
Juneau will forever be a stopping spot for the cruise ships and now that America has adults in charge again, maybe our timber industry will restart. Ketchikan and Juneau will always have that.
I’ll repeat myself here. The powers that be will tell you, “Well, it’s just not that simple…” Are you still listening to them or are you getting wise? You’ve been lied to Alaska.