Project Overview

6/23/2023: The park is still under construction, the primary reasons for the delay include waiting for a long stretch of dry weather to bring the turf installation crew to Juneau to install the artificial turf. This is now complete as of 6/22/22.  The next long lead item that has been delayed are the guardrails for the upper walkway that is connected to the stairs and the play structure.  These are expected to arrive in Juneau in late June or early July and they will be installed as soon as they arrive. There are a few other small parts and elements that have not arrived in Juneau, but these should not delay the park opening.  The park is still an active construction site.

10/19/2022: Park construction is ongoing, the park will be opened late fall/early winter through the winter, but there will be areas that are shut off due to construction not being complete.

9/20/2022: Due to supply chain disruptions and resulting delays in material procurement, the estimated construction completion date has been extended until October 15, 2022.  We anticipate work will be largely complete at this date and portions of the park will be available for public use.  Some landscaping and other miscellaneous features will remain to be completed in Spring 2023.

8/24/2021: Work begins Wednesday, August 25. During the remaining construction season, CBJ contractor Admiralty Construction will begin demolition in the play areas and plans to construct a new concrete retaining wall.

Beginning Wednesday, August 25, access to the park will be from the Franklin Street and 5th Street sides only. Some areas of the play field will remain open along with the benches and picnic tables by the Empty Chair Memorial. The playground, basketball court, upper sloped areas, and the park’s two off-street parking spaces will be closed to public access. The public is asked to use caution in the area, and observe construction and traffic signage.

Some areas of the park will be re-opened in the winter for use including the field and the sledding hill. Further Capitol Park improvements work is scheduled to take place beginning Spring 2022 through the planned completion in August 2022. The project includes new ADA accessible playground equipment, drainage system, safety surfacing, concrete paths through the park, safety lighting, fencing, entry porticos, a picnic area, an artificial turf field, art, landscaping, and an upper paved walkway with views over Juneau.

8/19/2021: Admiralty Construction has been awarded the construction contract and site activity will begin this month. Work in 2021 will focus on construction of a new retaining wall, with other work dependent on material delivery and weather conditions. Most of the improvements will take place beginning in spring 2022 through the August 1, 2022 completion date. Once work begins, most of the park including the playground and basketball court will be closed to the public during construction.

1/4/2021: CBJ and MRV Architects will be holding a virtual community meeting on Tuesday, January 12 at 6 p.m. to discuss the planned park reconstruction, design ideas and results from the survey. 214 people participated in the survey that closed on January 3. To view the recording of the Capital School Park community meeting, go here.

If you wish to receive design and construction updates throughout the Capital School Park Improvements project, please email [email protected] to be added.

12/9/2020: The project team wants to hear from the people who frequently use the park for their outdoor, cultural and recreational needs. This survey will ask a series of ranking and open-ended questions to gain an understanding of current park values, uses and needs for the community and will take approximately 5-10 minutes. The survey closed on January 3, 2021 at 5 p.m.

Capital School Park is a historic landscape; portions of this area were used as a school from 1887 to 1997. The adjacent Terry Mill Building served as a high school and elementary school from 1928 to 1997. It is located in a residential neighborhood, adjacent to the Capitol Building, and a few block from Juneau’s Downtown business district. Tourists often come to this park as it is the closest playground to the waterfront.  It also serves as a school play area for a nearby childcare center and preschool.

The park currently has cultural features including totems and the Empty Chair Memorial. It also includes a tot lot, swings, playground structure, open play area, picnic area, sledding hill, and landscaping beds. Much of the infrastructure including the play equipment, tables, benches, retaining wall, drainage system and landscaping are in need of repair. In 2012, a master plan was developed with community input to guide future park reconstruction. This project will update the master plan with public outreach including a survey, community meeting and interviews with various stakeholders to understand needs and uses of the park. Using the input from the community, the master plan will be developed into construction drawings. The construction is partially funded by sales tax dollars. Additional funding is pending based on bond sales and project allocations.

The CBJ Engineering Division, Parks and Recreation Department, MRV Architects, Anderson Land Planning and PND Engineers are collaborating to facilitate the public outreach and complete the design phase of this project.

Design: MRV Architects, Andersen Land & Planning, PND Engineers, Gorman Engineers