Kotzebue city officials last month discussed plans to use federal funding to move forward with a new emergency shelter project.
In May, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola submitted Fiscal Year 2025 Community Project Funding requests for Alaska, seeking to secure about $60.2 million. On that appropriations list was a request for $12,000,000 for the Multipurpose Emergency Shelter Building and Command Center for the City of Kotzebue.
Tessa Baldwin, Kotzebue’s city manager, said in an email that the building and site currently under consideration is the old recreation center, and the new project would “also cover a space to use as a recreation center.”
“We are trying to create a multi-use building for residents to use for meetings, gatherings, emergency shelter, recreational use and potentially a new city council chambers that is accessible to all individuals,” Baldwin said.
During a city council meeting in August, the city’s federal lobbyist, Drue Pearce, said that Peltola put in a request for $1 million to begin the work on the multipurpose building. Pearce said that if the request stays through the process, the funding should become available to the city next year, after the 2025 fiscal year budget is passed.
“You’ll have a million dollars to begin that work,” she said. “I assume that you’re going to want to start the demolition on the old rec center, but that’s up to the council.”
Baldwin said that “this funding is still being determined by the city council (for) the best use of the funds. It is recommended to do the planning stage first which will include the drawings, inspections and any potential permitting we may need.”
If the funding is approved by Congress, then the city would receive funding after the budget is passed, Baldwin said.
“Our strategy for federal and state funds this past year has been to break down the costs for projects in stages which has made us more competitive for grants and designated spending,” Baldwin said, noting that the estimated total for the project was $12 million. “We decided to take it down into ‘bite size pieces,’ to get the work done.”
Kotzebue had an emergency shelter in the past, but it was condemned in 2018 due to unsafe conditions, according to Peltola’s disclosure for the multipurpose shelter project. Right now, the city uses the local school as an emergency shelter, which can disrupt education, the disclosure stated.
The city wants to construct a new building that would provide emergency shelter facilities and an emergency command center, housing up to 100 people for days or even weeks, the disclosure stated.
“The funding would be used to provide an emergency shelter for local community members and neighboring communities when natural disasters require evacuations,” Peltola said in the disclosure for the project. “The regional risks of floods, extreme weather and wildland fires are heightened due partly to climate change. This service is vital for ensuring that those in need have a dedicated place to seek refuge.”
The new shelter would also provide space for public meetings and events, available for residents’ use.
“When not in use during emergencies, the space will be available for residents’ use for activities such as Native dance teams practices and Native skill game training and winter wellness activities,” Peltola said in the disclosure.
To move forward with building a new shelter, Pearce said the city officials need to adjust the design of the project and cut the costs.
“It is good news,” Pearce said. “It’s the start that you needed. And as you know, once the delegation starts a project, they make sure they finish it.”