Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

A long house pavilion now stands at the southern end of Tlingit Park, marking completion of the first phase of a project that was delayed about nine months due to supply chain issues. Construction finished on May 7.

The second phase of the project, which has yet to receive funding, will involve commissioning and installing traditional artwork around the pavilion.

Design and construction of the first phase cost roughly $300,000 and was funded through Alaska State Parks with a federal U.S. National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund grant.

The project, which started a year ago, originally was slated to be done by the end of last September but delivery of special wood siding was delayed, said borough public facilities director Ed Coffland.

"Chilkat Custom Contractors did the work. They did a great job," Coffland said.

The long house features a "great room" - a spacious gathering place that's 75 feet long by 45 feet wide and built with local timber and labor. Coffland said the borough plans to add sliding doors to the back staging area. He also said the pavilion is equipped with electricity and security cameras.

Armando DeAsis, a Tlingit architecture student and student intern at Northwind Architects, where he worked on the project, said the structure has mostly traditional elements with modern adjustments to fit the park setting.

DeAsis said clan houses traditionally were used as community buildings. "It was very fulfilling to take (Haines') project in that direction, rather than try to design something modern and reinvent the wheel," DeAsis said. "There was already a design for this - it's something that we as Tlingit people have used for thousands of years."

Traditional long houses are closed with a single entrance but the pavilion is open-air to make it more accessible and usable as a feature of the park. The pavilion also has a concrete floor as opposed to traditional paneled flooring.

DeAsis said the project is "relatively unique." Other projects he's worked on apply Tlingit concepts and abstract forms to modern designs but the long house in Haines adheres more closely to traditional architecture.

"It was a really fun project," DeAsis said. "The tribe in Haines is really wonderful to work with, and I'm hoping I can get up there to see it."

Chilkoot Indian Association (CIA) helped plan and design the project. CIA also is overseeing construction of American Disabilities Act-compliant trails around the park, including a ramp from the waterfront to the park that is scheduled to be built this summer.

CIA tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette noted that there are graves near the park and that a cultural monitor observed construction.