Abandoned Alaska building receives demo funding

An abandoned former hotel building in Fairbanks, Alaska, has reportedly been singled out for federal demolition funding as part of a larger government spending bill.

Local media reports indicate $230 million in federal funding secured by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will be earmarked to take down the 11-floor building.

According to Emporis.com, the Polaris Building was constructed in 1952 and has operated as both the Northern Lights Hotel and the Polaris Hotel.

At 11 stories and about 134 feet in height, the building has been the tallest in Fairbanks since it was completed, according to the site. Emporis also indicates the structure was condemned in 2012, fell into foreclosure in 2018 and was purchased by the city of Fairbanks after that with intentions to demolish it at an estimated cost of $5.5 million.

According to Fairbanks-based KTVF-TV, Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly expects to put the project up for bid and “get people to give us the estimates to take it completely down, starting with the annex around the back, and then slowly from the top down. That’s my understanding is the best way to do it, closing off some streets and just leveling it.”

The funding was reportedly attached to what KTVF calls an “omnibus bill” passed by the Senate in late March that will then head to the desk of President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The TV station also cites Matherly as saying the city has agreed to waive tipping fees at its landfill to save the city “around $2 million in disposal fees.” It does not refer to seemingly available recycling prospects for the concrete and steel in the building.