KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
The stone retaining wall at the corner of Center Street and Marine Way, in front of the Baranov Museum, comes tumbling down Wednesday as crews prepare to build a new one. Brianna Gibbs photo
Downtown experienced a little destruction yesterday (Wednesday) morning, KMXT’s Brianna Gibbs was there and tells us why.
The nearly 40-year-old stone retaining wall that separated the Baranov Museum property and the sidewalks on Marine Way and Center Avenue came crumbling down yesterday morning. Construction workers loosened the wall with heavy blows from an excavator then gently peeled away the rock structure revealing decades of soil, and even a few artifacts to add to the museums collection.
— (Threshold Recycling 1: "Background sound.")
That’s Sarah Corbin from Territory Heritage Resource Consulting. The wall was built in 1974 and has been leaning into the sidewalk more and more in recent years. The portion of the wall along Marine Drive was leaning onto a KEA transformer, which was what prompted the city and museum to take down the wall and rebuild a new one.
The stone wall will be replaced with modular bricks. Funding for the project came from the museum and the City of Kodiak.
I’m Brianna Gibbs.
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