Celebration for new Gateway Visitor Center is Friday

MATANUSKA — The community is invited to join the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau for a Land Purchase Celebration from 3 to 5 p.m., June 6 at the site of the future home of the Gateway Visitor Center, Mile 36, Glenn Highway. Dedication speeches are scheduled at 4 p.m.

The celebration marks the finalization of the Mat-Su Borough’s purchase of the property from Matanuska Electric Association, thanks to a $1 million capital appropriation in the fiscal year 2014 state budget.

With property purchased, the second phase of the project begins later this summer, including site preparation and design of the facility, which will be funded by a $1.23 5 million appropriation include in this year’s capital budget, which Gov. Sean Parnell signed May 29.

MSCVB says it expects to receive the appropriation after July 1 and can then begin the bid process for design and site work on the 12,000-square-foot center, $7 million Gateway Visitor Center.

“This is a huge step in the Gateway Visitor Center project, and we’re looking forward to the completion of the facility,” MSCVB Executive Director Bonnie Quill said a press release. “We invite our friends and neighbors to attend the celebration, and find out why the Gateway Visitor Center is a great opportunity for economic development in the Mat-Su Borough.”

The celebration also includes live music provided by the Overby Family Band, refreshments and 10 partner organizations will be on hand to share information about how the proposed center will positively impact the Mat-Su Valley.

Partners in the new visitors center are Alaska State Parks, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Railroad, Mat-Su Borough, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Knik Tribal Council, Chickaloon Native Village, CIRI, cities of Palmer and Wasilla, Great Land Trust and Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats.

In a in a November 2013 interview, Quill said the partners have been working together on the idea for a few years, but now the conversation will get more specific about what each of those relationships will look like.

She said the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center was the model for the Mat-Su project.

A feasibility study in 2010, funded by a National Scenic Byways grant, identified the Homestead RV site location for its scenic beauty, views of the Chugach Mountains, central location and construction opportunities.

MEA purchased the site from the former owners of Homestead RV Park owners as part of the right of way acquisition to assist with the Eklutna Power project. The new high-voltage transmission lines were constructed on the backside of the property, below a bluff to retain the site’s viewshed.

MSCVB has operated the visitors center since the current 4,000-square-foot log structure was built in 1989. The nonprofit manages the current visitors center and will manage the new center, but the borough owns both, Quill said.

In the borough, construction also has begun on the South Denali Visitors Center in Denali State Park at the northern edge of the borough. Work on the state project began after $7 million for the project was included in its 2014 capital budget.

For more information, contact 746-5000.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.