Home, sweet home

WASILLA — A year after indefinitely moving the official Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race restart to Willow, local officials say Wasilla remains the home of the world’s most visible and popular mushing event.

While growth and a habitual lack of snow have prompted the race’s restart to move from Wasilla to Willow in recent years, Wasilla can still maintain its claim on being home to the Iditarod, said Chas St. George, director of public information for the race.

“The most important thing for us is Wasilla is the home of the Iditarod 365 days a year,” St. George said, adding the event’s headquarters are in Wasilla and has become a destination for year-round tourism. “We’re here and we’re not going anywhere. We have huge traffic in the summertime. We have so much traffic (at Iditarod headquarters) that we need a traffic light here.”

The stage is set for the March 8 restart in Willow, but at this time last year, some in city government were questioning Wasilla’s financial commitment to the Iditarod if the restart doesn’t happen here.

Wasilla gives $10,000 a year to the event, and while that pales in comparison to the estimated $1.2 million the Iditarod received from about 40 sponsorships in 2008, having the race’s hometown show its support is important to the overall health of the organization, St. George said. During the 2008 race, the Iditarod was viewed in 160 countries and the official Web site had 25 million hits.

“The development that’s taken place over the last decade (in the Wasilla area) has really made a restart in Wasilla difficult at best,” he said. Moving the restart is an example of “the evolution of this race, the ultra-competitive environment of this race, and the evolution of the city of Wasilla.”

Last year, then-city councilman Steve Menard introduced an ordinance that would have pulled the city’s funding of the Iditarod, Junior Iditarod and Iron Dog snowmachine race. Now, with a new council and mayor in place, the Iditarod maintains a strong relationship with the city, St. George said.

Not having the physical race restart in Wasilla may be a blow to some local egos, but that doesn’t lesson the race’s impact on the city, said Cheryl Metiva, executive director for the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. A study commissioned by the city in 2006 shows that Wasilla still realizes well over $1 million in sales from the restart even if the restart’s held in Willow.

“That’s because with everyone going to the race, 99 percent of them are still going through Wasilla,” Metiva said. Those fans are stopping for gas, lunch, dinner and to do some shopping, she said.

Apparently, those are all activities that aren’t happening much in Willow, which is contracted to host the restart for another four or five years, said Jim Houston, director for the Willow Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s hard for some to believe, but (the Iditarod) is not a huge boon to the businesses here because a lot of people fill up in Anchorage and drive home on the same tank of gas,” Houston said. “Also, a lot of people don’t want to get out of line (waiting for parking) to go to a restaurant.”

Even so, Willow is proud to host the restart, even if Wasilla remains home to the Iditarod, Houston said. Another example Willow may become the permanent home for the restart is that the state Legislature recently appropriated $100,000 to help clear a larger area to handle parking for the event.

“Now we’re more confident (the restart will be in Willow),” he said. “We were always on hold until the last minute before. Now that it’s established as a permanent takeoff, we’re proud that Willow is the restart.”

Having the restart remain in Wasilla would be ideal, but it’s just not feasible now, Metiva said.

“From a pride standpoint, as the home of the Iditarod, we’d love to have it here, but we understand why it’s in Willow. It’s only 30 miles from Wasilla and is our sister community. … There’s much more stable snow conditions there and really, we don’t have an ideal location (in Wasilla) any longer.”

If Wasilla wants to bring the restart back, the process will be long and involved, Metiva said. A proper trail system would need to be built and a commitment made to stockpile snow to guarantee there would always be snow on the trail for the restart.

“We’re still the home of the Iditarod,” she said. “The restart’s one day of the year. We get the other 364 days the rest of the year.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.