The doors of the Thane Ore House, locked since the business closed in 2012, will soon be open again.<\/p>\n
The Juneau Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit Tuesday night that will allow the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska plans to turn the boarded-shut building into a Native cultural immersion park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to lift our people up,\u201d Myrna Gardner, Central Council\u2019s business and economic development manager, told the commission. \u201cWe want to give them opportunities, and we want to be a good neighbor and member of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
During summer months, the cultural center will use two 72-passenger buses to shuttle cruise passengers and tourist to the former Ore House, which will be renovated to look like a traditional long house. There, visitors will be able to eat at a restaurant, watch Native dance performances, buy souvenirs in a gift ship and watch people carve canoes and weave on site.<\/p>\n
During winter months, the restaurant will close, but the center will still be open, providing a space for Native artists, such as canoe and totem pole carvers, to hone their crafts, Gardner said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a long-term commitment of the tribe to teach those trades, and build those canoes,\u201d she said, speaking before the commission.<\/p>\n
The crux of the conditional use permit discussion Tuesday was whether the planned use for the land is in accordance with the zoning restrictions of the property, which is zoned waterfront industrial. The city\u2019s waterfront zoning districts are reserved for businesses that are water-related, water-dependent or water-oriented. Waterfront industrial zones are \u201cintended for industrial and port uses, which need or substantially benefit from a shoreline locations,\u201d according to city code.<\/p>\n