The City of Fairbanks and its council are still figuring out what the future holds for the city-owned site of the now-demolished Polaris Building. But in the short-term, a local nonprofit is stepping in to implement a temporary use in hopes of breathing some life into the area.
And on Friday, residents gathered at the site, some channeling their inner Polaris Building vibe and getting down in downtown. About 30 people were dancing at dusk, moving to the music in a spot where one of the prevailing forms of expression had been graffiti. That was when the pale exterior walls and boarded up windows of the abandoned, 11-story highrise still towered over neighboring streets.
The Polaris Building was once the centerpiece of the Fairbanks skyline. But city contractors have worked to demolish the decrepit building in recent years, and it has gradually transformed from physical structure to a set of memories, continuing to exist only in the minds of locals and as a subject of Fairbanks history.
The building’s former location is undergoing a transformation of its own, and has become the temporary home of the so-called “starter block on Lacey Street,” said Festival Fairbanks Executive Director Julie Jones.
“Now that the block is empty, rather than create a parking lot situation or a snow dump or something like that, we decided to activate the space,” Jones said.
Short white walls are forming an enclosed oval in the center of the block. On Friday, that was the dance floor, where folks were celebrating new beginnings with cupcakes and hot chocolate. But the enclosed space will be an ice rink come this winter, according to Jones. She says skate rentals won’t be available, but that the rink will be free and open to the public – at least, once it gets cold enough.
“We’ll need at least three days in a row of about 20 below so that we get a good solid freeze,” Jones said. “And then we can start loading a little bit of water in and smoothing it, loading more water – doing it in layers until the ice is ready.”
Festival Fairbanks is managing the starter block and will oversee day-to-day operations and basic upkeep, like snow removal, according to Jones. But the city retains ownership of the site and will handle any major maintenance, if necessary.
Fairbanks Mayor David Pruhs announced the ice rink plans at a city council meeting at the end of September. He said it was time to move on from calling the location the Polaris Building site.
“We’re saying bon voyage to the past, and coming into the future,” Pruhs said at the time.
The city secured a combined $14 million in federal, state and local funds to demolish the Polaris Building and its smaller annex, a process that took about three years, but that is now considered complete.
Jones said, in the summer, she’s planning for the block to have “micro-retail” huts that vendors can rent out. She also said, once the city decides what’s next for the site more permanently, she hopes to move the “starter block” elsewhere and apply the concept to help liven up other areas of town.