Sitka's old pulp mill site keeps filling up — another lot goes out for development

Sitka is seeking developers for another lot at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park, with proposals due Oct. 29. On its own it's a routine solicitation, but it's one more piece of a longer story: the slow revival of the site where Sitka's pulp mill once stood.

The park occupies the grounds of the former Alaska Pulp Corporation mill, which ran from 1959 until 1993 and, at its peak, employed some 450 people — about a quarter of Sitka's economy. When the mill closed, the site was demolished and cleaned up, and the city took ownership in 1999. For years afterward it struggled to attract tenants.

That has changed. The park has steadily drawn fish processors, a tannery, marine-service businesses and an aquaculture association, and the city has been moving several parcels toward long-term lease. The Sitka Assembly's late-July agenda included two development solicitations for the park alongside a proposed lease to the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, a hatchery arrangement Alaska News has previously covered. Lot 16B is the latest parcel on offer.