State widens Cowles Street review area to take in 31 Fairbanks heritage sites

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has widened the preliminary historic review area for its Cowles Street reconstruction in Fairbanks to take in 31 sites listed in the Alaska Heritage Resources Survey. It has asked the borough's Historic Preservation Commission to help identify properties the project could affect.

In August 2017, the department found that no historic properties would be adversely affected within the original, smaller area, and the state historic preservation officer agreed.

Four of the 31 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the 1904 Falcon Joslin House and the 1916 Mary Lee Davis House. The department rates 11 more as eligible for listing, among them a historic district along Cowles Street.

Two items have been added to the project since 2017: burying overhead power lines along Cowles Street and nearby avenues, and a right-of-way acquisition whose extent is still to be determined.

The expanded area, known as the area of potential effect, covers the street's 87-foot right-of-way plus stretches of the crossing avenues. A 2017 survey covered only the original area, and the department will hire a consultant to document the rest.

"The APE will be defined after comments are received from your agency and other consulting parties," department archaeologist Cori Michel wrote in a Sept. 15 letter to commission Vice Chair Patricia Peirsol, asking for a response within 30 days. The commission's agenda for its Oct. 20 meeting called for review and possible recommendations.