Lorna Shaw (3rd from left), Community Affairs Director with Kinross/Ft. Knox Gold Mine, presents a $10,000 gift to Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center President Charlene Marth (2nd from left). The gift is to help complete the exhibits. “One part of the exhibits focuses on how we make a living – and mining is a signficant part of that story.” said Shaw. “We are proud to be a part of telling the story of how we make a living in Interior Alaska.” Also pictured here are Deb Hickok, Pam Rice and Cindy Schumaker.

At 8 ft, 3 inches tall (and still growing), the sunflower next to the historic cabin at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center in downtown Fairbanks is a hit with visitors. It is surely the most photographed flower in Fairbanks this summer.

Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau staffers Ginessa Peter, Corrine Jankowski, Ashley Ritenour, Helen Renfrew and Kasey Gillam show off our giant sunflower.

Doyon, Limited has donated a unique king salmon skin Athabascan Chiefs basket for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) display within the Center’s exhibits. The display features artwork from each of the 12 regional corporations established under ANCSA.

Doyon commissioned the basket from Athabascan artist Audrey Armstrong. It took Armstrong three years to gather the king salmon skins for the basket and three months to make it. Armstrong said that the king salmon skins and the beads and shells used for the basket “represent the respected status of Native chiefs and leadership that guide Native people. The blue of the beadwork symbolizes the sky and water – both important elements of the Athabascan culture and subsistence lifestyle.”

Armstrong said that making the basket “was one of the biggest honors for her as an artist” because she knew Mr. Thompson and his family personally.

It was a very welcome surprise today when Michael Friborg, Field Representative with the Operating Engineers Local 302 dropped by with a check for $1,000. “Our union was a part of building this building, so it is right that we make a contribution to help get it done,” said Friborg. Thank you Operating Engineers! You have joined the list of more than 700 businesses and individuals who are Friends of the Morris Thompson Center.

North Pole refinery Flint Hills Resources showed its support for the Morris Thompson Center by presenting a $10,000 donation during the June 22nd Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon. External Affairs Director Jeff Cook presented the check to board President Charlene Marth, who is Morris Thompson’s niece. Cook said that he knew Morris for many years as a friend and a colleague who was deeply committed to his Athabascan culture. “Flint Hills is proud to make this contribution in his honor,” said Cook.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1547 presented a gift of $10,000 in April toward completion of the exhibits, becoming the latest major donor to the Morris Thompson Center.

During the special gathering for the check presentation, IBEW’s Jay Quakenbush told board President Charlene Marth that IBEW has been a long-time supporter of the project and had given smaller donations in the past. However, “it was when local members toured the exhibits that that they decided to get involved in a more significant way,” Quakenbush explained.

“When we walked into the exhibits, a few jaws dropped,” said Quakenbush. “The exhibits reflect our members lives, the industries we work in, how we enjoy the outdoors, the hunting, fishing, snowmachines, boating, dog sledding to name a few. They felt it really captured the Alaskan way of life, and they wanted to do what they could to help get the exhibits finished.”

The construction trades played a significant role in the construction of the Center – a facility that was completed ahead of schedule and under budget in September 2008. The contract with GHEMM Company, the building’s general contractor, set a goal of 25% Alaska Native workforce during construction. The Fairbanks Building and Construction Trades Council committed to helping us meet that goal, and when construction was complete we exceeded our goal with a total of 37% Alaska Native workforce.

“Morris would have been honored by all those that worked together to make this project a success,” said Marth. “He would have been especially pleased to see the Alaska Native hire surpass our expectations. Working together – that was what Uncle Morris was all about.”

In early June 2010, Gov. Sean Parnell signed into law the state capital budget which included a $500,000 grant to help complete our exhibits. Completion of the exhibits is now within reach!

“We are so close,” said Project Director Cindy Schumaker. “This new state grant takes us within $390,000 of our final goal…and gives us the momentum we need to raise the remainder through private sources.”

Much thanks goes to the Interior Delegation that worked together to include the grant in the capital budget during the legislative session.

Partially completed exhibits opened in September 2009, and are receiving rave reviews and extraordinary visitor comments. Work continues. The most recent addition was the installation of a winter sunset and northern lights show as part of the winter diorama. The next addition will be museum quality text panels.

The largest remaining piece is the planned “Gateway” exhibit which is meant to be the finale to the exhibits. This space in the middle of the lobby now sits empty and our story is incomplete. The exhibits that are completed educate and inspire interest in how we live in Interior Alaska…boating, hunting, fishing, snowmachining, skiing, dogmushing, etc.  In the uncompleted Gateway, we will transition that message to encourage our visitors to get out the door and experience the life we live. These visitors will then exit the exhibits where they are met by visitor services specialists poised to help them plan their next adventure.

The World’s “Farthest North Antler Arch” has been installed just north of the Center along the Chena River. The arch is made up of over 100 antlers that have been collected from all over Interior Alaska. Ten antlers came from the village of Huslia. Richard Carroll collected 15 antlers from Ft. Yukon. Additional antlers are from Fairbanks, North Pole, Dot Lake, the Minto Flats, Tok, Koyukuk, Delta, Northway and the Tanana Flats. One of the largest sets came from Shawn Gover, a young boy from Nikolai who got the moose antlers on his first hunt.

A goal of the arch is to bring attention to the bike and walking paths along the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, and to encourage people to make the short four-minute walk between the Morris Thompson Center and the Golden Heart Park. “It’s certainly going to be a tourist attraction. You can tell that already by the number of people who came by and took pictures as we were building it,” said Sandy Jamieson, local artist and cabin-builder who oversaw the installation of the antlers. “I always like seeing an antler or a skull out in nature. Some nice vines growing throughout the antlers in the summer would invoke the common experience of being out in the woods and connecting with nature.”

Originally the arch was planned to span the entrance to the Center’s historic cabin, but as work progressed, it became apparent the large arch would overpower the little cabin. We held the idea in our back pocket, hoping it might resurface somewhere else on the grounds. Then, when we began work with the Downtown Association to link the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center to 2nd Avenue, the arch became the perfect “Gateway.”

The total cost of the arch is approximately $25,000. The bulk of the cost, approximately $20,000 is for construction of the two concrete columns which form the base and the steel beam that will hold the antlers. Because the arch is in a public park, liability issues arose which required the involvement of engineers in planning and construction, and for digging deep concrete pilings to ensure arch stability. GHEMM Company Project Manager Mike Davis said, “This arch isn’t going anywhere!” The remaining $5,000 covers the purchase of antlers, installation, and a sign that will recognize the individuals and communities that donated the antlers.

We thank the many hunters who supplied the antlers, as well as Wrights Air and Everts Air Cargo for generously donating back-haul of antlers from the villages all over Interior Alaska.