Juneau committee sends an unrequested $6 million state grant to the downtown Seawalk

Juneau got $6 million from the state this year that it never asked for, and the city has decided where to put it: the downtown Seawalk.

The money is Juneau's share of a $37.5 million pot the Legislature decided to empty this year. The state collects $34.50 from every cruise passenger, sends $5 of it directly to the port communities, and keeps the rest in a dedicated account. That account had gone untouched since 2022, with no spending proposed by the governor, and had grown to $37.5 million. In May, the Senate Finance Committee, which includes Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl, added a line to the budget distributing nearly all of it to 16 cruise communities by visitor count. Skagway got the most at $9 million, followed by Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and Hoonah. By law the money can only go to port, harbor and passenger-related uses.

An Assembly committee directed staff Aug. 31 to name the Seawalk as Juneau's project. The state requires a spending plan before it pays out, Visitor Industry Director Alexandra Pierce said, and staff picked the Seawalk because its south end has to be built at the same time as the neighboring Petro Marine project, by the same contractor, which makes it the most time-sensitive candidate.

The grant closes a gap. Juneau already has about $15 million set aside for the Seawalk, enough to finish the design but not to build it. With the $6 million, the roughly $21 million total carries the first phase through construction without borrowing against future revenue or pulling money from another project.

That first phase, extending the walkway from Franklin Street toward the AJ Dock on pilings over the water, is planned to start in spring 2027. It includes a new mooring dolphin, a cluster of pilings ships tie to, that technically belongs to the second phase but has to go in alongside the first, because the city must tear out an existing one to build the walkway. Both phases together should take about two years. Pierce said downtown congestion should ease as more cruise visitors walk in rather than ride.

Asked what happens if the state rejects the plan, Pierce said staff would start over, but she has been in touch with the state and has no concerns. The second phase's design is already funded; paying for its construction, likely through a revenue bond, comes up at the Assembly's finance committee in November.