Borough: Old Willow community center must be moved

WASILLA — If the owners of a Willow landmark don’t move it off of borough property by Sept. 1, Mat-Su borough officials will come up with a plan to move it for them.

The building is known by different names, the most recent being the Willow Historic Museum and Tourism Center. The single-story log cabin has sat on a borough-owned lot adjacent to the current Willow community center since 1992. A large portion of the building is used for storage, though some stuffed and mounted animals are kept on display and eight community groups still regularly use the building for gatherings. The building was used as a volunteer coordination center during this year’s Iditarod re-start.

However, borough officials see the building as an insurance liability. Officials have worked for years to verify the building is properly insured, and concluded last month it is not.

“It’s a trespass cabin,” said community development director Eric Phillips. “You can’t just have buildings randomly placed on borough property. That building has been there for many years. To the borough, it poses a liability, unless the thing is properly insured.”

Phillips sent a letter on Feb. 1 to Willow Area Community Organization chair Shane Starrett saying the building had operated for a decade without an agreement about insurance, and requesting that it be moved no later than Sept. 1.

“This is an extremely poor location in view of the planned library expansion and future parking needs,” Phillips wrote. “More importantly the building has continued to be unused, except as storage, and poses a significant liability to the Borough due to lack of maintenance, structure deterioration, interior mold, and lack of insurance.”

The library expansion plans entail demolishing the present library and replacing it with about double the existing square footage, said borough parks and library director Hugh Leslie. That plan doesn’t call for the removal or elimination of the cabin, Leslie said.

Jim Huston says the building has been operated under the insurance of the Willow Historical and Wildlife Foundation (WHWF) insurance policy since 2006. However, the borough had not been added to the insurance policy at that point. That has since been corrected (borough officials provided a copy of an insurance rider dated March 3 showing the borough being added to the liability insurance), Huston said.

Huston also dismissed concerns about structure deterioration and mold, saying no mold had turned up during a recent building inspection by an engineer.

“The building is in much better shape today than when I took over,” he said.

Huston co-founded the WHWF in 2006, when the then-WACO board voted to sell the building and donate the mounted animals. The building is part of the area’s history, Huston said, and he wants to keep it where it is to increase its eligibility for historic preservation grants.

“It’s very dear to me because it was my in-laws that kind of founded Willow, that organized everyone to get a school, to get road improvements, and every aspect of it,” he said.

Huston has paid the building’s electric bill and conducted numerous repairs out of his own pocket and with donations from user groups. When borough officials wrote WACO about the situation, he responded with a letter from the insurance company claiming the building had been covered by the WHWF’s insurance policy without interruption since 2006. Huston also provided letters of support from community organizations like the Willow Chamber of Commerce and the Willow Lions Club.

That prompted a Feb. 29 response from assistant borough attorney Laura Newton re-asserting Phillips’ Sept. 1 deadline.

“The borough has considered your request to reconsider the decision that this cabin must be removed from Borough property, yet respectfully declines,” Newman wrote. “The situation and concerns with this cabin have existed for ten (10) years and still remain. Therefore, the Borough maintains the decision regarding this cabin: this cabin must be moved, or the Borough will take action to remove it.”

About 80 people turned out to the WACO meeting on Monday to voice concern about the building’s future, Starrett said. The community members voted that the building should remain where it is, and instructed the board to write a letter against relocation. Huston has subsequently collected 300 signatures on a petition to keep the building in place.

Many of those who turned out were older residents with a long history with the building, Starrett said. Starrett, who moved to the area 10 years ago, says he can see both sides. He understands the relationship people have with the building, but doesn’t want it to impede progress.

“I don’t want it to slow down the town growing, either,” he said.

Borough officials are still trying to figure out whether their concerns have been addressed or not, said borough attorney Nick Spiropoulos.

“We’ve asked for things,” he said. “We’re not getting them.”

For example, while they’ve seen the rider adding the borough to the insurance, they still haven’t seen the full insurance policy for the building and the WHWF. When they asked the insurance company for a copy, WHWF’s insurance company, Integra Alaska, told Newton only the WHWF could receive full policy documents.

“Yes, it’s the past, and we are looking at going forward,” Spiropoulos said. “But when somebody says we’ve been insured for 10 years, we’d like to see that.”

Borough officials also have a fire marshal inspection certificate listing six minor problems with the building’s safety requirements. Huston says the issues have been addressed. Borough officials haven’t yet received written confirmation from the marshal that the issues have been fixed.

Without the appropriate documents, borough officials can’t be sure all the issues have been resolved, Spiropoulos said.

“I can’t say ‘Yes, we’ve changed our position,’” he said. “I can’t say ‘No, we haven’t changed our position.’”

Starrett and Viet both said they think there is enough time before the deadline to work out a solution with borough officials. Viet pointed out that District 7 assemblyman Randall Kowalke and borough mayor Vern Halter both hail from Willow, which gives the community a stronger presence in the borough government than it has had in the past.

“They know the history of it,” he said. “They’re well aware of it. I’m confident they’ll do what’s right for the community.”

Despite the politics, the community could ultimately band together, Starrett said.

“We’re a tight-knit community,” Starrett said. “We’ll get through this.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.