Rooted in Community: Merchants Wharf, Part I — Winging it

On a sunny summer day in 2023 ships and floatplanes bustle around downtown Juneau’s harbor. Visitors watch from the deck above as passengers board five de Havilland Otters tied to floating docks below at the water’s edge. One by one the single-engine seaplanes taxi and lift for a trip south toward Taku Inlet, sprawling Taku Glacier and a historic lodge for a meal of fresh wild salmon grilled outdoors. It’s the classic Alaskan tour. And it has been happening for decades in a similar fashion.  

In 1937 curious Juneau travelers could step aboard a float plane at this dock and “See the Glaciers by Air for $4.50.” The allure of blue ice entices explorers today as it did when Alaska Air Transport invited people to see the terrain from above and posted the price on their building.

Today the building is home to Merchants Wharf with retail space and dining options.

Early history

Within 20 years of Juneau’s founding the location was developed by Pacific Coast Steam Ship Company. In 1901 the company drove pilings into the tidelands along Front Street and added decking to create a deep-water wharf. Ships unloaded coal into a tall coal bunker that dominated the skyline at the end of Main Street. In the 1920s the shipping company merged with a competitor, leaving the wharf vacant.

Aviation was in its infancy in the 1920s. The first plane to Juneau flew in 1922. Pilot Roy Jones and his seaplane “Northbird” had an initially humble arrival from the south. The plane developed engine trouble near Midway Island in the vicinity of Tracy Arm. Jones set the plane down on the water and came into Juneau at the end of a tow rope pulled by a mail boat. Like most situations of this nature, the plane was repaired and on its way soon. The repairs occurred in a small floating hangar tied to pilings in the same spot as Wings Airways’ Otters shuttle visitors to glaciers today.

Also in the 1920s interest in automobiles was keen. A Ford dealership opened on the wharf in 1924. Juneau Motors operated there for a few years then relocated. The spot was perfect for a hangar. The property was purchased by Alaska Air Transport. They demolished the dock and the building to create a large hangar and repair shop. Renowned pilot Shell Simmons designed a lift system to raise the floatplanes from the water up to the street-level hangar where planes could be repaired inside the building. This ingenious elevator was first used in 1936. Moss-covered remnants of the elevator support pilings can be seen today outside the windows of the Hangar on the Wharf Restaurant.

The first hangar fell victim to fire in 1938 when a spark from a welding torch set the building ablaze. A new structure went up on the dock in 1938-39 and flying resumed.

Water landings were imperative in the early days because expanses of flat land were rare in Southeast Alaska. Many outlying communities — then as now — rely on floatplanes for transportation. Wheelplanes need long stretches of open land; Juneau’s airport near Mendenhall River wasn’t constructed until 1934. It was carved out of 75 acres of grassy wetlands purchased from Kendler’s Dairy.

By 1940 waterfront floatplane air services consolidated. Alaska Air Transport and Marine Airways created Alaska Coastal Air. Their operation required more hangar space. In 1946 the wharf hangar was expanded by 10,000 square feet. By the 1950s Alaska Coastal served 33 Southeast Alaska communities. In 1962 another merger with a Ketchikan airline created Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines with its distinctive logo of red Canada Geese on the tail. They had a large fleet of Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft flying from downtown. A big change occurred in 1968 when Alaska Airlines bought Coastal-Ellis. The larger airline discontinued the harbor floatplane business. Juneauites Dean Williams and Bill Bernhardt took over the operation and named their business Southeast Skyways.

Evolution continued into 1982 when newly-formed Wings of Alaska soon began operating glacier flightseeing tours from downtown. Ron Maas and family-operated Taku Lodge tours by floatplanes from the waterfront. In 1993 Ken and Michelle Ward sold Ward Air, and purchased Taku Glacier Lodge and partnered with Wings to provide exclusive tours from the wharf. The partnership functions like a family operation.

Today’s Wings Airways was created in 2002 when more than a dozen passionate long-time Wings of Alaska employees purchased the tour side of the company. The separated portion of Wings of Alaska, under new ownership, continued flying scheduled routes throughout northern Southeast Alaska using wheel planes at the Juneau Airport.

Holly Johnson is one of the employee-owners of Wings Airways. She has a special connection to the Merchants Wharf hangar: her husband Arne Johnson’s family owned the Ford dealership Juneau Motors in the original early-1930s dock building. In 2002 Holly stepped in as the Wings Airways leader during its formative partnership years of flying guests to fish dinners.

“I’m particularly proud of the ownership aspect of Wings Airways,” Johnson said on a stormy winter day inside the cozy Airways cabin on the hangar deck. “I had the privilege of serving as president of a fantastic Alaskan airline for 14 years.” She celebrated her family heritage as she stood beside a portrait of famous 1930s Taku Lodge owner, dog musher, Miss Juneau pageant winner and local celebrity Mary Joyce. Holly holds a framed photo of Juneau Motors when her family’s business occupied the Merchants Wharf waterfront.

The large hangar building has had its ownership challenges. When Alaska Airlines departed, the structure stood empty for a few years until 1974 when Henry Camarot, Lou Dischner and Frank Irich bought the building. They named it Merchants Wharf and converted the open maintenance hangar to shops and restaurants on the main floor with offices on the second floor. It was a slow start in an old building. Perched on pilings over tidal salt water made building maintenance occasionally harrowing.

At one time a developer planned to build a hotel on the site. That would have meant demolishing the hangar. As the developer planned for a new hotel all the tenants were evicted and the building sat idle while he tried to assemble financing. It never materialized.

A similar threat is noted in a City and Borough of Juneau “Historic Property Evaluation of the Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar,” dated September 2006. The 72-page illustrated report is available online through the city’s website. On page 1, the report states, “In 2004, the CBJ assembly adopted a Long Range Waterfront Plan that recommends the Alaska Coastal Airlines Hangar (Merchants Wharf) be demolished to accommodate the expansion of Marine Park and the construction of a Seawalk and smaller retail facilities.”

Many Juneauites are happy this option has not been exercised. Locals and visitors embrace the shops and restaurants. Aviation history can be seen in the building’s corridor where original wood plank decking under layers of gray paint allows visitors to walk the historic hangar. On the walls large framed photos tell the story visually and in captions.

The Hangar on the Wharf draws diners and travelers year-round into the restaurant with its open waterfront views and aviation-themed decor. Large-scale model floatplanes suspended from the rafters rekindle images of early pilots who “were pioneers every day,” as Wings Airways’s Holly Johnson says.

Reecia Wilson and Rob Sanford own and operate the Hangar on the Wharf Restaurant, having started it with others in 1996. They also own the Merchants Wharf building. Several other restaurants have occupied the large space, but the Hangar has endured.

In a recent conversation Reecia said hard work and commitment keep the business going, along with an amazing team of people who work “the front and the back of the house.” She adds that good luck plays a large role in success. “Luck is when good preparation meets opportunity,” she adds. In the past few years COVID-19 conditions have presented a big challenge to all businesses, especially hospitality. Rob and Reecia have been relying on their committed staff to make dining with friends a familiar pleasant experience once again.

Over the decades the people who have sustained the hangar wharf in all its iterations have devoted time, imagination and investment to keeping Juneau and aviation history alive. Their efforts have served the needs of residents and visitors whether they travel on early floatplanes, cruise ships or stroll the dock.

• Laurie Craig is an artist, advocate and avid researcher of Juneau’s historical treasures. Rooted in Community is a series of articles, published in the Empire on the third weekend of each month, focusing on unique buildings in Juneau’s Downtown Historic District and the present-day businesses (and people) that occupy them. This work is supported by the Downtown Business Association. This article has been moved in front of the Empire’s paywall.