The Sealaska Heritage Institute has proposed renaming the part of South Seward Street that runs through its campus.
President Rosita Worl announced the proposal in April at a ceremony celebrating the installation of Kootéeyaa Deiyí, the totem pole trail along Juneau’s waterfront.
“The city recommends that we have a community meeting to discuss the proposed change,” Worl said to the crowd. “I would say that our citizens here today constitute a community meeting.”
Worl handed Deputy Mayor Maria Gladziszewski an application to rename the part of the street between Front Street and Marine Way to Heritage Way.
According to city code, applications to change street names go through the city planning commission. The process includes a public hearing. If the commission approves the name change, SHI will be responsible for replacing the street signs.
A change in street name also requires approval from the majority of property owners there. On that part of Seward Street, the only other property owner is the city.
At a Juneau Assembly committee meeting Monday, Assembly member Wade Bryson said he wanted to know how much it would cost to change City Hall’s address on official documents.
“There is a cost to this,” he said. “I’m interested in what SHI is trying to do, but at the same time, if it costs us a million dollars to properly re-address all city functions, we have to have a real conversation about that.”
City Manager Rorie Watt said the cost would be minimal.
“It’s not like we have reams and reams of pre-printed paper that we’re putting in typewriters,” he said. “There will be a transition – as people order new business cards and things, we can update it – but I don’t see a reason we need to throw out perfectly good stationery.”
Assembly members agreed to support renaming South Seward Street between Front Street and Marine Way. The proposal now goes to the Planning Commission.
