| Alaska Regional Office | U.S. Department of the Interior | |
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| Cultural Resources Team | National Park Service |
| National
Historic Landmarks in Alaska |
Sitka
Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Costal Defenses, Sitka |
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Sitka, Alaska |
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| National
Register Number: 86003359 Resource Type: District Property Type: Defense - Air Facility Designated: August 11, 1986 |
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| This was the Navy's
first air station in Alaska when World War II began. Planes patrolled Southeast
Alaskan waters to track down reported submarine or other enemy activity.
In the first months of the war it was one of the few installations prepared
to protect the North Pacific. In 2003, the National Park Service completed draft design guidelines for the Sitka Naval Operating Base. Consultations between the National Park Service, Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Department of Education, and U.S. Coast Guard on various projects within the NHL have concluded with positive results for the Landmark. A planned road widening was accomplished with minimal impact to the Landmark, several Landmark buildings underwent extensive rehabilitation that extended their life and maintained their historic integrity, and the U.S. Coast Guard extensively modified plans for a new building in the Landmark so that it closely mimicked an historic structure that once stood on the site. The once threatened boathouse is now in the process of rehabilitation by a local maritime association. When complete the boathouse will be used as an interpretive center for the Naval Operating Base. A working group recently formed to explore the possibility of developing a trail along the causeway connecting the islands of the U.S. Army Coastal Defenses. This trail would have an interpretive component to it. |
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