Ketchikan’s Upper Dudley Field. (Eric Stone/KRBD)
A $264,000 contract for designing upgrades to Ketchikan’s athletic fields are set to be approved Monday. That’s as Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly is slated to review the contract as part of a $6.6 million project approved by voters.
The renovations would add artificial turf and fencing to Upper Dudley Field outside Ketchikan High School to conform to high school softball standards. The lower field would get an expanded, covered grandstand and a new scoreboard. Lighting would also be upgraded. The Dudley Field upgrades are expected to cost north of $2.5 million.
The sole bidder for the design work was Ketchikan’s R&M Engineering. Borough officials say the firm has worked on prior accessibility and grandstand upgrades at Dudley Field. Borough officials recommend approving the contract.
In November, the assembly awarded R&M the design contract for the other major ballfield upgrade authorized by borough voters in October’s election. The firm offered to do more than $350,000 in engineering work pro bono for Norman Walker Field, which hosts Little League, American Legion and high school baseball games.
In other business, a parcel along Ketchikan’s downtown promenade could be rezoned to allow for mixed commercial and residential uses. Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly will consider rezoning the Water Street lot on Monday.
Borough officials say the owners, K&B Real Estate, don’t have specific plans in place yet. The lot between cruise ship berths 3 and 4 is entirely underwater and is surrounded by elevated sidewalks. It’s currently zoned for heavy industrial use, which prohibits housing development.
Borough officials say the owners believe a development plan including residential units is more likely to be viable. Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly will be asked to approve the rezone Monday. If approved, it would come back for a final vote next month.
Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the White Cliff Building. Members of the public have a chance to weigh in at the beginning of the meeting. The full agenda is available online. The meeting is broadcast on local cable channels and live-streamed at the borough’s website.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the owner of a submerged lot up for rezoning. The owner is K&B Real Estate, not K&O Real Estate.
