The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is planning to renovate the Fort Abercrombie Ranger Station in Kodiak, according to an online notice posted by the state last week on March 17. The ranger station hasn’t been renovated since a floor replacement in the early 2000s; the building has been on the division’s maintenance list since 2013. The department estimates the renovations could cost up to $1 million.
Wendy Sailors, the public information officer for the state Division of Parks and Recreation under the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, said that the station was initially a manufactured home built before the 1960s and got put up in its final form at Fort Abercrombie in 1980.
“It is a manufactured home unit, they basically lifted it up and then stacked framed walls around the bottom for a downstairs office area," she said. "It features 1960s and 1970s era kitchen and bathroom furnishings that have not been renovated since.”
Updating these 60 year old furnishings are going to be a big part of the renovation, as the upstairs kitchen and bathroom will be getting completely redone. But that’s not all that needs fixing.
“There's hard water that comes through the water pipes there. So filtration is something that needs to happen," Sailors said. "And there's an issue with the hot water and the hot water pressure for the whole building.”
There is also an issue with the building’s heat, which the renovations hope to address by fixing cracked and single-paned windows. Sailors said the main goal of the renovation is to make things nicer for staff.
“We do bring in or hire seasonal staff. A lot of times, it's hard to find housing anywhere in the state, but especially in a town like Kodiak," she said. "Changes to that area are going to make it easier to recruit and retain staff.”
According to the notice, some of the other key renovations include updating the downstairs restroom to be ADA-compliant and adding a new washer and dryer.
Sailors said the department expects to start working on the building some time in fiscal year 2027, which will start on July 1. According to Sailors, the state extended its deadline to accept bids up to April 2.
