Ketchikan: KETCHIKAN CITY PARK... Lighted Fountain and All - A Feature Story By JUNE ALLEN - Ketchikan's unique and serene little park on the bank of upper Ketchikan Creek has been a city treasure since the years it was created during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The amazing fountain in Ketchikan's
unique and serene little park...
Feature Photo by CINDY BALZER ©2013

When the park's meandering stream and ponds were first built, probably in the second decade of the century, they were the arteries of an Alaska Packers salmon hatchery. A large wooden building straddled one of the narrow streams. It had quarters for the hatchery caretaker's family. Sixty-plus years later, in 1989, when the park's fountain was being restored, volunteer worker Ray Roady would recall that he had dated the hatchery manager's daughter back about 1925!

Canneries, usually located at the mouths of salmon streams, were required to build hatcheries upstream, in the interests of conservation. Some of the canneries complied with that federal order from the Department of Fisheries, and were genuinely rearing and releasing fish - like the one on Ketchikan Creek. Others in more remote locations were said to be token hatcheries, doing very little to assist the And then the over-fished salmon industry sagged in the late 1920s and the Ketchikan Creek hatchery was abandoned.

Somehow City Power & Light must have fallen heir to the property or purchased it, because the hatchery building was moved just across the road and used as a warehouse for the utility company's powerhouse. Then in 1935, the City bought the power company, renamed it KPU, and the old hatchery building became a building for Ketchikan's fairs in the late 1930s and served several other purposes over the years - from dances to roller skating.

At the time the hatchery was abandoned, a prosperous and genial Irish gentleman named Peter Gilmore eyed that piece of deteriorating fish-pond property. Pete came to Ketchikan in 1899 from the gold fields of the north and loved the country. He even named one of his daughters Alaska. He bought property on the waterfront and opened a saloon facing Front Street, the Emerald, with rental rooms above and a bowling alley below on the dock level. It was across from today's historic Gilmore Hotel, built years later by Pete's brother Patrick. He prospered and built a turreted home nicknamed Gilmore's Castle on Grant Street.

The late Stan Oaksmith remembered that Pete was a city employee in the late 1920s and was in charge of the streets. Park Avenue and streets in that whole neighborhood in the area were all being improved at that time. Pete Gilmore began to see the possibilities of that pretty little park-like property along the creek. So he rolled up his sleeves and volunteered his time. Stan Oaksmith mentioned that the city was awfully tight with its purse-strings at that time! Over time Pete groomed and improved the ponds, shored up the sides of the little streams, kept brush cut and engineered the flow of the water onto the property. He planted trees and his volunteer work began to be noticed by others, especially by one, Jerry Murphy, one of the hardest workers.

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Rights By Amanda Mitchell - Government has a purpose and it is to protect our liberty and freedom. As our government has evolved into providing for us, more and more of our ‘rights’ have been defined and controlled by others. Some see this as equality. - More...
Thursday PM - February 28, 2013

The inconvenient pregnancy By Linda Beaupre - Mr Holston, it was with amusement that I read your recent ranting about a woman's right to choose (please note the word woman, not man). - More..
Thursday PM - February 28, 2013

Wrestling By Adam P. Minshall - Good day to all in the community.  My name is Adam P Minshall and I would like to thank all the hard working participants of the Kurt Kuehl Middle School Championship Wrestling event.  It's always a fun spectacle to watch these wrestling events in our area.  I feel that as a community in Southeast Alaska we have a group of amazing volunteers for our wrestling program.  Every time I go to the events it's a huge wrestling reunion, which really makes me appreciate all the hard work that our hardworking coaches put back in to our program.  It's a reflection of our town and coming togetherness for the kids in our area, and that's pretty important.  Wrestling builds a lot of character and I feel that most people that have wrestled or know a wrestler feel the same way.  It certainly is a unique sport that dates back to the days of the Greeks. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Stop The HIT On Small Business By Denny DeWitt and Dan Danner - Three years since its passage, the law that had promised to drive down costs and make health insurance more affordable for working families is proving a failure on all fronts. This is especially true when it comes to small businesses, their workers and the self-employed in Alaska.  - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

40 Days For Life By Robert Holston - There are certainly many arguments that have been made as to why a woman has the right to an abortion.  Indeed, not the least of these is that it was argued before the highest court in the land and became law 40 years ago.  Pro-CHOICE is very AMERICAN.  We decide what to wear, what to drink, what to drive, what to smoke, what to do for work...... To choose, is a human right and very American.  As the local leader for the 40 Days For Life campaign, let me thank the volunteers for standing  on Tongass and on the principles of protecting the innocent.  I am familiar with the arguments that separate this nation along choice / life lines.  I will quote some of the common arguments and briefly state why they fail in the light of rational thought & present day science. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Life Begins at Conception By A.M. Johnson - In support of Ms Cathy Brauning’s  plea, I submit the following on abortion and life beginning at conception. As a simple common sense statement: If you’re pronounced dead when your heart stops beating……. why aren’t you pronounced alive when your heart starts beating? - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Mountain Point Boat Launch By John A. Beck - I read in the paper that the City of Ketchikan accepted ownership from the Sate for the property including the Mountain Point boat launch. - More...
Tueday PM - February 26, 2013

Keeping working people poor By Beverly A. Martin - Poverty should never be the goal of a governmental tax structure yet our income tax is designed to keep working people poor. Hidden corporate taxes raise the wholesale cost of goods and services while the 7.65 percent payroll tax ensures less take-home pay for buying goods and services. The FairTax HR25 ends the income tax and restores economic prosperity. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Help for “Made in America” companies By Patrick Meuleman - Alaska can be a tough place to do business. That is especially true in today’s global economy, where competition from imports makes the business climate even more difficult. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Support HR25 & A Fair Tax By Anthony Gasbarro - Our federal tax code is broken.  There are more than 2 changes to it every congressional day for 20 years.  It is so complicated that many IRS employees can’t explain it accurately.  It is 72,000 pages long.  A tax code that has fostered an industry, tax lobbyists, who outnumber DC elected officials 32 to 1.  The government picks winners and losers.  We’ve become so smart but we’ve lost common sense. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 26, 2013

Museum Expansion Project By Laurie Pool, Tongass Historical Society - Plans for a new or renovated museum have been talked about for years. The Centennial Building was built in 1967 and originally housed the Tongass Historical Society museum, and a federally funded exhibit about the purchase of Alaska. When the federal exhibit came down, the City’s library moved into the space left by the exhibit in 1968.  Almost immediately a need for more space was recognized.  In 1997 a concept design was completed for a new 27,000 s.f. museum to be added onto the Discovery Center.  In 2004 another 30,000 s.f. concept design was presented using the existing footprint of the Centennial Building, rising vertically. Both concepts would have included the famous Ellis Airlines Grumman Goose which the Tongass Historical Society owns and hopes to someday find a place to safely and properly display.  Despite best efforts, neither concept was pursued by the City. - More...
Wednesday PM - February 20, 2013

Passage of HB 80 by Alaska Senate By Michelle Ridgway - Despite the rush to move this bill, many legislators were developing a deeper understanding of the technological potential for ships to meet water quality criteria at the pipe and the scientific implications of not doing so. - More...
Wednesday PM - February 20, 2013

Helping Our Kake Neighbors By Bobbi Leichty - The motto for Alaska’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is, ‘Neighbor Helping Neighbor’ and in the past several weeks, I’ve been able to witness communities walking the walk, not just talking the talk. - More...
Wednesday PM - February 20, 2013

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