Construction to Begin This Weekend; State Plans New Parking Garage

04.12.2006 -- The Municipality of Anchorage and State of Alaska signed an agreement late today, clearing the way for construction of Anchorage's new civic and convention center. The agreement also could lead to construction of a new state-funded parking garage across the 7th Avenue and F Street intersection from the center.

The 13-page agreement gives the city the block (Block 80) between the Atwood and ConocoPhillips buildings where the convention center will be built, while the state received from the city the half-block (Block 70) just to the north of the Atwood, plus $2.3 million. The agreement also says nearly 300 state workers currently parking on Block 80 will move to two sites: Block 70 and the JC Penney's parking garage.

An unexpected but welcome addition to the convention center project is the State's plan to build a 650-space parking garage across from the Atwood to serve both state workers and users of the new convention center and other downtown facilities.

"This is an historic day for Anchorage and kicks off a revitalization of our city's heart - our downtown," said Mayor Mark Begich. "We always had hoped to build a new parking garage to serve the new center, but project financing wouldn't allow it. I'm thankful the administration of Gov. Frank Murkowski and legislators are willing to step in at state expense to build this vital addition to our downtown parking needs."

The agreement clears the way for construction to begin on the new center starting this weekend. Beginning Friday at midnight, the convention center site will be fenced off and traffic flow on the nearby streets will be changed to accommodate the construction.

Under the terms of the agreement, the city's nonprofit corporation, CIVICVentures, acquired title to Block 80 and gave the state title to Block 70 and $2.3 million.

The state has seven years to build a parking garage on Block 70. If it fails to meet that deadline, the city can purchase the block back and build a garage itself. A new convention center builds on one of Anchorage city's greatest strengths - the visitor industry - which last year attracted more than 800,000 visitors to the city who contributed more than $1 billion to the economy. According to a Northern Economics analysis during last year's convention center campaign, a new center will double the economic value of conventions to Anchorage to more than $250 million annually.

The project is expected to generate about 1,300 construction jobs during its three years of construction and 1,900 new direct and indirect jobs once its opens in Fall 2008.

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