SITKA Administrative History

Chapter 5:
SITKA NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, 1966-1986 (continued)

Russian Bishop's House

At the same time that the park service undertook the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center program, they had started working on plans to expand the park's program to include interpreting the Russian period of Alaska's history. Plans included acquisition of the Russian Bishop's House and reconstructing structures around the Russian blockhouse.

After the January 2, 1966, fire that destroyed the Russian Orthodox cathedral, the congregation met for services in the Russian Bishop's House chapel. The building was in very poor shape, and the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska did not have the money needed to preserve the structure. The congregation elected to reconstruct the cathedral instead of preserving the Russian Bishop's House. In 1968 the bishop approached the National Park Service about purchasing and restoring the house. In 1969, Bishop Theodosius moved from the house into a new residence.

Congress appropriated funds to purchase the Russian Bishop's House in 1972. The land and building acquisition cost $106,000. In addition to the Russian Bishop's House, the park acquired two related buildings on the property, House 105 and the Old School. House 105 built in 1887 and moved to the lot in the late 1950s or early 1960s, had been rental housing for priests and their families who could not be accommodated in the Russian Bishop's House. The school was built in 1897 to alleviate lack of space in the Bishop's House. [331]

Russian Bishop's House.

Restoration work on the Russian Bishop's House began immediately after acquisition. In 1973 staff from Denver Service Center started background research and prepared measured drawings of the building. Because of the accelerating deterioration of the building, Congress appropriated $50,000 in a Construction Appropriation Act in 1974 to the National Park Service for historical, archeological, and architectural advance planning studies for the house. At that time, park planners estimated that reconstruction costs would total $1,244,000. The money appropriated, along with some unspent funds from other projects, was used to get the Russian Bishop's House restoration underway. [332]

During 1974 and 1975 staff at the Alaska Area Office completed two Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act compliance actions. The first was for acquisition and stabilization of the Russian Bishop's House; the second was for archeological excavations at the site. Both actions were deter mined to have no adverse affect. [333]

In June 1975 archeologists from the University of Alaska, Fair banks conducted excavations on the Russian Bishop's House property to determine if any of the foundations or building lines of the original galleries remained. In addition, artifacts recovered would help in interpretation of Russian Alaska. The ground was too disturbed to provide information about earlier foundations. Although the majority of artifacts recovered were construction items, a surprising number of kitchen pieces were found. Anne Shinkwin, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, author of the contract report, suggested that these pieces had been deposited with fill material after the original construction. [334]

Also in 1975, Joe Clark, the wood products pathologist who had worked on the totem pole restoration project at the park, studied the attic, foundation and crawl space, and the exterior walls.

Following this preliminary work, staff at the park began talking with city officials in 1976 about closing Monastery Street, adjacent to the house, and about easements. The most critical easement was for the purpose of regrading the site to improve drainage. Other easements were sought to preserve a visual corridor around the site. To date, none of the easements has been granted. [335]

Early in 1976 a study team met at the park and developed a multi-year stabilization and restoration plan for the Russian Bishop's House. It was agreed that restoration work would progress concurrently with background research studies. The team members included Hank Judd, Chief Historical Architect for the National Park Service; Ellen Hope Lang, Sitka National Historical Park; Gary Higgins, Clement Dressner, and Anthony Donald, Denver Service Center; and the Regional and Deputy Regional directors. The team anticipated that the project would be completed in Fiscal Year 1982.

The next year Zorro Bradley, archeologist with the National Park Service in Alaska, began archeological salvage on the insulation barriers in the ceilings of the first and second floors. The purpose was to determine if any architectural features from earlier years could be found. None was found. A variety of artifacts were recovered, however, including several Russian coins from ca. 1840-1850. Other archeological work preceded ground disturbance at the site for new utility lines or building foundations. In 1978 Dick Ping Hsu conducted archeological investigations along the north and south walls of the house. Craig Davis did some testing during 1982 in the proposed utility corridors at the site. He found a Russian period trash pit. Catherine Holder Blee conducted excavations under the Old School in 1983.

The artifacts and books were removed from the house in 1976 after agreement was reached between the park and the Orthodox Church in America. Three paintings that had been damaged by water leaking through the roof were sent to Harpers Ferry Center for immediate treatment. The rest of the artifacts were placed at Arrowhead Transfer and Storage in Sitka. The transfer company agreed to temperature and humidity controls in the storage area. The artifacts had been inventoried by Harpers Ferry Division of Museum Services personnel in 1974 and the library in 1975, but removal awaited conclusion of the loan/gift arrangement. Under terms of the agreement, the church took several items, among them a paper holding Russian soil and a small metal box that holds the relics of a saint. These items will be returned to the chapel when it is once again used for religious purposes. Later, textiles and other paintings removed from the house were sent to Harpers Ferry Center. [336]

Preliminary research, restoration and stabilization work on the house began in 1976. The floor planks on the first floor were removed, and where possible salvaged. The first floor partitions, of no historical significance to the restoration period, were removed. The roofing was replaced with temporary roll roofing and the chimneys were enclosed in plywood. One of the first activities was to install a fire alarm system in the house. The next year, workers removed the west gallery stairs and put plastic sheeting over the windows. Late in the year, workers began dismantling and recording the chimneys.

Beginning in 1977 and finishing in 1979, historical architects worked to document the interior wall and ceiling finishes. After documenting, the twentieth century finishes were removed. The nineteenth century paint colors and wallpaper finishes were studied to be authentically duplicated, and most of the finishes were removed.

During the summer of 1978 a scaffolding system for the major exterior restoration work was installed. The rotted, lower portions of the north and south wood walls were removed. The insulation layer beneath the chapel was also removed. Historical architect and project supervisor Randall A. Conrad from Denver Service Center directed the installation of a reinforced concrete foundation in 1979. The north and south walls were rehabilitated in 1980. The galleries were reconstructed and a metal roof added in 1981. Mechanical and electrical design followed.

James Mote, a historian with Denver Service Center, prepared three studies for the house. These were published as one document in August 1981. The reports included a historic resource study, historical data section of a historic structure report, and historic furnishings report. The studies provided background information to help the National Park Service plan for the use and interpretation of the Russian Bishop's House. The historic resource study provided information about the Russian-American Company, its establishment in Sitka and relations with the Natives, and history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sitka. The historic structure report provided information about the Russian Bishop's House specifically, its inhabitants and physical changes over the years. The final report was on furnishings. Specifically, the studies were to help the park carry out the programs defined in the park Interpretive Plan approved in October of 1976. In an addendum to the plan released in July 1979, the National Park Service said that "the integrity of the building to the period of restoration will be maintained above all other considerations." [337] The planning team recommended that the exhibits in the Russian Bishop's House not require an interpreter to be present.

In March 1982 Denver Service Center released the "Historic Structure Report, Administrative Data Section, Architectural Data Section" prepared by Paul C. Cloyd based on a March 1977 report by Anthony S. "Tony" Donald. This report provided data on the physical attributes and condition of the Russian Bishop's House. The earlier report recommended that the Russian Bishop's House be restored to its 1867 appearance. Donald argued that more photographic, documentary, and physical information was available for this period than for earlier periods. It also involved less loss of building fabric than alternatives to restore the building to earlier periods. A great deal of additional documentary and physical information was obtained between 1977 and 1982. The later report recommended that the interior and exterior of the house be restored to their 1843-1853 appearance. The plan called for the first floor interior to be adaptively restored to its historic appearance in 1843-1853 and be used for exhibits. The second floor would be restored to the same period and furnished appropriately. At an August 1980 meeting, National Park Service personnel from the Alaska Regional Office, Sitka National Historical Park, and Denver Service Center judged that an 1843-1853 restoration was more suitable to the interpretive themes of the park.

The planners decided that the Old School and House 105, both built later than the period to be interpreted by the Russian Bishop's House, would not be torn down. Instead, they would screen the house from adjacent more contemporary structures and would be used for support operations of the house. House 105 would be used for a shop area and storage. This was later revised to provide for offices and storage.

Throughout the years of construction, the National Park Service provided tours to the public. On Alaska Day, October 18, 1983, the park held a one-day open house. More than 900 people visited the site that day. In spring 1984 the park selected Rosemary Wagy to fill a less-than-full-time position to staff the Russian Bishop's House and open the building to visitors on a scheduled basis. That year approximately 20,000 visitors were guided through the building. As part of Sitka's Fourth of July and Alaska Day festivities in 1984 teas were hosted at the Russian Bishop's House. A living history program, an interview with Princess Maksoutov, wife of the last governor of Russian America, was developed. When Wagy resigned in 1985, however, the position was not refilled. [338]