The intersection of Jackie and Renninger streets is a special place.<\/p>\n
Not only does the crossroads commemorate former Juneau police officer Jackie Renninger, it is a milestone in the city\u2019s fight to make housing more affordable.<\/p>\n
Several city officials gathered at the intersection, located across from Dzantik\u2019i Heeni Middle School, Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the opening of the recently completed Jackie Street. The cold continuous drizzle of rain did nothing to dull smiles or dampen spirits as several people spoke in memoriam of Jackie Renninger, who died of cancer 24 years ago.<\/p>\n
After holding several positions with the Juneau Police Department, Renninger was sworn in as an officer in July 1991. She got the job after the department received a federal grant allowing it to hire a \u201ccommunity-oriented\u201d police officer intended to work in the Cedar Park neighborhood, Juneau Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson said during the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Renninger held that post until she died a little more than six months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a police officer for six months,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIf I\u2019ve got it right, there\u2019s another park that bears her name and there are two streets here that bear her name. If she can have that kind of impact in six months, that is an inspiration to the rest of us \u2014 especially in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Ken Koelsch, who worked as a teacher for 28 years at Juneau-Douglas High School, spoke Wednesday, recalling how Renninger worked tirelessly to protect his students and other children in the community.<\/p>\n
Though incredibly necessary, Koelsch recognized that Renninger\u2019s job wasn\u2019t flashy, which is why he said that naming Jackie Street after her was a fitting memorial.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing is a basic need in our community, and I find it very appropriate that this is called Jackie Street because it is serving a basic need, and Jackie would be really proud of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jackie Street leads into the Renninger subdivision, the first major subdivision the city has completed since 1999. The road, which cost the city about $900,000 to build, carries the necessary utility lines to the subdivision\u2019s six multifamily lots, most of which are about an acre.<\/p>\n
Juneau Lands and Resources Manager Greg Chaney, who also spoke at the celebration Wednesday, told the Empire that the subdivision will be able to support up to 189 dwelling units.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s taken several years of process, but we have a new subdivision,\u201d Chaney said, addressing the small crowd gathered in the intersection. \u201cIt\u2019s been built. It\u2019s tangible. And it\u2019s so gratifying because people come up to me and say, \u2018I hate it when people make plans and they just sit on the shelf\u2019. It\u2019s been a while since 1999, but it\u2019s really gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city is still taking and reviewing proposals for the vacant Renninger lots. Chaney is hopeful that the site, now thickly forested and undeveloped, will soon house hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or at sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The intersection of Jackie and Renninger streets is a special place. Not only does the crossroads commemorate former Juneau police officer Jackie Renninger, it is a milestone in the city\u2019s fight to make housing more affordable. Several city officials gathered at the intersection, located across from Dzantik\u2019i Heeni Middle School, Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":29778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-29777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29777"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=29777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}