Peek at the Past

Here’s what made the news in the Jan. 8 and 10, 1992, editions of the Mat-Su Frontiersman:

Extension may aid port

The Mat-Su Borough Port Commission met to discuss steps along the way to realizing a deep-water port at Point MacKenzie. The commission heard good news concerning the extension of a federal study to include the Point MacKenzie and Knik Dock areas. According to port marketing consultant Steve Minor, port planners need a more extensive study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency to know what the waters are like for turning large ships around in the middle of the Knik Arm. The commission is also waiting for the release of a feasibility study by Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese company looking to develop the Wish Bone Coal Project. The study will answer two questions: what the future port needs and what resources we have to meet those needs. According to Don Moore: “The reason for port development is not to have that ornament, but to allow development to progress in the Interior.”

Board heeds

overcrowding

With Wasilla Middle School currently housing 642 students in a building designed for 500 and more students expected next fall, how to deal with the overcrowding is a top priority for the Mat-Su School Board.

According to Associate Superintendent Norm Palenske, a consensus of ideas offered include double shifting, placing sixth-grade students back into elementary school and doing away with the middle school concept, or using Iditarod Elementary as a fifth- and sixth-grade school while making Tanaina, Cottonwood Creek, Snowshoe and Goosebay kindergarten through fourth grade.

Palenske said that they hope to have a recommendation to the school board by February.

Addition celebrated at Su Valley

It’s been a long time coming for the students and faculty of Susitna Valley High School, living in cramped conditions with not enough restrooms or classroom space. But finally after years of waiting and lots of determination, the renovations are finally complete. The school now has five new classrooms, two new restrooms (the school previously had only one boys and one girls restroom for the entire school) and a multi-purpose room. Students were delighted with the ribbon cutting ceremony knowing classes would be in the now finished addition. “No more portables,” eighth-grader Bill Drover said with a happy grin. “It’s a long run out there, especially when it’s 30 below.”

It cost what?

According to advertisements, in January 1992, you could:

• Rent a new-release movie for $2.

• Rent a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom townhouse for $500 a month.

• Purchase a Magnavox four-head VCR for $289.99.