More than a decade after Dillingham took possession of the Carlson House, the city is moving toward a decision on what to do with the old home and the lots it sits on.
Tuesday night, the Carlson House Committee is expected to make its recommendation on what should happen at the old Carlson home, be it museum, memorial or another option.
For decades, Dave and Mary Emily Carlson lived near the heart of Dillingham. At first, they had a small cabin. Eventually, they added on to it. Dave was a fishermen and a storekeeper and active in city government. Mary Emily was a nurse at Kanakanak Hospital and champion of community causes.
But since Mary Emily died and left their home to the city, it has stood mostly empty, and mostly unused, save for some reports of unsavory activity. Mary Emily herself suggested that a committee look at what to do with the house. And pretty much since the 1990s, Mayor Alice Ruby said a committee has been talking about the various options.
“I think there’s always been sort of a desire to use the buildings," Ruby said. "There’s a feeling that they’re historical. Mary herself had designed a veterans memorial on the little triangle piece, you know, the one little piece that’s kind of on the south side.”
As the city looks to make a decision, there's a wide range of ideas floating around.
Johanna Bouker was delivered by Mary Emily. After moving back to town as an adult, Bouker enjoyed hearing Dillingham’s history, and her own family’s, from the long-time resident. She has another idea for the land itself: a hospice facility.
“In my pie in the sky thinking at the beginning, when you figure there’s no budget involved or nothing like that – if that would have been a hospice when they were still alive, that would have been a perfect ending in their lovely home and with the memories," Bouker said. "And that is something Dillingham does need, so that would be really nice if funding could come to build something like that for whole Bristol Bay.”
After all these years, it’s coming time for a decision in part because the house is not in great shape – and it’s not getting better. There’s also a proposal from the community that’s spurred more interest in what happens to the old home.
Dillingham’s new American Legion organization wants to create a Veterans Memorial there. At a Carlson House Committee meeting in November, members talked about their proposal to recognize community veterans in a space that’s open to the public. If the house was kept standing – and that’s not guaranteed, given a recent report about all the work that would need to be done to keep it in good repair --- they said they might also want to use that.
But not everyone wants the focus to be on just a veteran’s memorial.
Jerry Liboff said he wants to see the old home used in a way that welcomes more of the community, although there could be a place for veterans to get involved, too.
“Something that basically celebrates the history and promotes the history of Dillingham, as an attraction to tourists as well as a way to educate people in the community about the interesting and the fun history that Dillingham has," Liboff said. "That would be the center focus that I would put on that.”
The Carlsons also left some money to the city; the committee is not making a recommendation on what to do with that. Ruby says some of it has already been used for keeping up the house, including repairs and maintenance and security.
“I think this year is the first year we actually budgeted some money out of the fund to, towards the library because that’s part of where the collection has been and will go, the library museum has, I believe, the Carlson diaries, you know, there’s some other photo albums and such," Ruby said.
Museum, park, hospice or otherwise, the final decision will be up to the city council, based on a recommendation from the Carlson House Committee, Ruby said.
“This is where history meets economy, and what everyone would love to do generally ends up being more than we can afford," she said. "I think that’s why the council is looking forward to recommendations from the committee and the public and they get to make the really tough choice of what can we do and what can we afford.”
There’s no set timeline for when the city council will make a decision after hearing from the committee.