Digital Bob Archive

Juneau's first City Hall doubled as a high school from the time it was finished, in the fall of 1913, until school was out on April 25, 1917, when a new school building was under construction. The space in City Hall occupied by the high school and a couple of grades was later used by the Juneau Public Library and as quarters for resident firemen.

Plans for a new school building continued to go forward although the treasury had been emptied by the construction of City Hall. The School Board and City Council began to talk about the possibility of a bond issue, and work was begun on a presentation to Congress for the necessary authority. By 1916 Juneau, in terms of assessed valuation, was the largest city in Alaska with a total of $3,547,400. The only other city that came close to Juneau was Fairbanks with an assessed valuation of $3,056,257. Juneau's property tax rate was the maximum allowed by law, two per cent.

The presentation was made to Congress in 1916 and an Act permitting Juneau to issue up to $75,000 in general obligation bonds for school construction purposes became law on September 6, 1916. Juneau voters overwhelmingly approved the issue at a special election on October 16. There appears to have been no problem selling the bonds. It was not only Juneau's first bond issue but very likely was the first such bond issue in Alaska.

On December 1, 1916, the School Board and Council held a joint meeting at which Harlin Thomas was approved as architect. He designed a three story building 79 by 146 feet with concrete exterior walls and wooden interior structure. There were two entrances on the Fifth Street side and one from Sixth Street.

Contracts for the main construction, plumbing and heating were let by the City Council on February 13, 1917, and came in at $74,736 with Peter Woeck of Seattle as general contractor. He was to have started work after April 25, when the school year ended, but the weather was exceptionally good and pupils were moved to temporary quarters, in churches, in the Masonic building at Fifth and Franklin, and in the Council chambers for the last three weeks of school. The old building, a part of which had served Juneau school children for nearly 30 years, was torn down on April 12.

The early construction start may have been providential. The contract called for the building to be finished by October 1 and the school was actually able to move into it on September 30. Five classrooms that were not immediately needed were left unfinished, and spruce was substituted for the fir interior framing specified by the architect, at a savings of $1,500. These savings made it possible to put concrete sidewalks around the building and make some other exterior improvements.

\"You have a building that will be useful for 40 years,\" Architect Thomas told the School Board. He was wrong; it was actually 55 years before the building was destroyed by fire.