Juneau Assembly votes 6-3 to sell City Hall to Sealaska Heritage Institute for at least $1.5 million

Juneau sold its old City Hall for $1.5 million to a buyer that plans to tear it down.

The Assembly voted 6-3 on Aug. 17 to sell the Heritage Way building to Sealaska Heritage Institute at no less than the $1.5 million the institute offered, after hours of testimony on both sides. The vote turned down the alternative, a sealed competitive bid with a $2.5 million floor. An amendment to raise that floor to $5 million tied, which killed it.

The building is contaminated with asbestos, and the city estimates restoring it would cost about $15 million. Juneau has already moved its downtown offices into the Burns Building, and the sale proceeds go back into the general fund to cover that purchase and renovation.

The institute plans to raze the structure and put up a 30,000-square-foot, three-story arts and cultural facility.

It does not have the money yet. SHI expects four years of fundraising.

Angela Rodell wrote before the vote that taxpayers were being handed "conceptual benefits, architectural renderings, and an August 17 deadline" while the financial questions stayed open.