Identity crisis hits Wasilla

January 24, 2006

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - People have no idea where Wasilla starts and ends.

That was just one of the comments to come from a joint meeting of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce and Wasilla City Council on Jan. 9, an hour before the regular city council meeting.

Although there were a other items on the agenda for the one-hour work session, all the time was taken up with a question posed by Chas St. George, president of the Chamber.

&#8220We need to get a snapshot of what is and what can be,” St. George told the council. &#8220A lot of new people are coming into our community and they deserve to know how we got started and where we're going.”

Pointing to a need to balance economic development with our quality of life, St. George sat before the council and posed a question.

&#8220What is the downtown right now?” he asked.

Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller said that was a question that would be answered by a proposed study of the economic impact of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Iron Dog snowmachine race, the Multi-Use Sports Complex and the amateur hockey team on the city.

&#8220But where is it right now?” St. George said. &#8220What do we call it right now? And the other issue is, does the council have comments about the historical district?”

&#8220It depends on who you ask,” Keller said.

Each member of the council took a turn at defining the city of Wasilla.

Mark Ewing said he hoped the historical district would be left intact.

&#8220I had an opportunity to get with someone who is going to draw a map of Wasilla as it was in the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s,” Ewing said. &#8220It's something we could use to actually define where our historical area should be. Frankly, I don't think moving the historical area, where history was made, constitutes another historical area. Hopefully, the downtown area will be left intact.”

Steve Menard, who grew up in Wasilla, remembered always thinking Palmer had a great downtown.

&#8220How can we make it pedestrian-friendly like Palmer? Downtown has to revolve around City Hall,” Menard said. &#8220One of my visions was a downtown [Delaney] strip like in Anchorage, where people could walk dogs with a running track around it. I'm so passionate about the city, I've thought of designs. I honestly think about this stuff all the time. I think the number-one thing is the cleaning up of the lakes. We have two major great lakes, and my vision is if we had a walking path connecting them, like a semi-coastal trail. We don't do enough with them.”

Ron Cox said the historical area is just too cramped and needs to be moved for more parking.

&#8220Downtown could be from the Parks Highway to Nelson Street and from Knik Road to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway extension,” Cox said. &#8220My downtown area is where all the businesses are. My downtown is just not Carrs, it includes Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot and Lowe's. That's my downtown.”

Marty Metiva said Wasilla is not missing the boat, it's literally missing the bus.

&#8220We have five coaches a day from May to September that go out to the Iditarod Museum,” Metiva said. &#8220They come up, go out, then they turn left on the Parks and they don't even go into Wasilla. We need to capture that tourism. If you look at most of the real successful tourism destinations, they have a specific area downtown area and that becomes your historic area. We need to focus on core downtown area and increase our tax base. Ten million dollars worth of sales tax comes from our businesses and we need to thank them and focus on them and try and do our part to drive business into the downtown corridor.”

Last summer, council member Diana Straub noticed a tour-bus guide directing her charges in a grocery store, saying food was in one direction and bathrooms in another.

&#8220Is that all we have to offer?” Straub asked. &#8220Get those people off the bus. They should eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels, wake up and go to the Musk Ox Farm, the reindeer farm, out to Hatcher Pass and then go on up to the Princess Hotel, but spend some money first.”

There was a smattering of applause when Straub said, &#8220Don't just go to the grocery stores.”

It was Straub who said Wasilla needs signs, telling people where the limits are.

&#8220People have no idea where Wasilla starts and ends,” she said.

Howard O'Neil recalled coming to Wasilla 12 or 13 years ago.

&#8220 I was halfway to Pittman before I realized I'd driven through Wasilla,” O'Neil said. &#8220So I think the need for an actual downtown is crucial. You want to attract tourism, but unless you have bus access, it's not going to happen.”

With the work session nearly over, St. George thanked everyone, and said it all goes to show how much they have to do.

&#8220What are we?” he said. &#8220We are home to a lot of different things. We are the gateway to a lot of different places. But it's incumbent on all of us to come together and find common ground so our grandchildren have a place to call home.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.