Benny Benson was a 13-year-old Aleut child living in the Jesse Lee Home, a Methodist boarding school in Seward, Alaska when he entered a territory-wide contest to design the territorial flag. Benson lived among other children who were orphaned or displaced by the Spanish Flu and Tuberculosis pandemics that destroyed Alaska Native Villages.

His design won the contest and on July 9, 1927, the Alaska flag was flown for the first time at the Jesse Lee Home.

Monday, the Seward City Council will decide the Home’s fate by voting on a resolution to demolish the complex.

The Friends of the Jesse Lee Home, a non-profit organization, has been working to preserve the historic site and had obtained state funding for the project under the Palin and Parnell Administrations. That changed under the Walker Administration when most of that funding was re-appropriated to the Department of Transportation.

“I watched the city council meeting on YouTube and that’s the first step when we got involved,” said Trish Neal, board president for the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation. “The Jesse Lee Home deserves to be saved and we’re going to do what we can to offer our help.”

Neal was so passionate about saving the Home that she drove two-and-a-half hours from Anchorage last Tuesday to meet with the mayor of Seward, the city manager and the city council members to present her proposal to save the Jesse Lee Home.

“The mayor tried to dictate to me that she’s not willing to meet with me unless I’m bringing a check to the table,” Neal says.

Neal invited the mayor and the city council members to meet with her two-by-two at the Brown & Hawkins store in town in compliance with open meeting laws.

Sharyl Seese was the only Seward City Council member who came to meet her.

“It’s really a shame that the city council is not willing to listen,” Neal said.

Seward Mayor Christy Terry says she is not necessarily against saving the Jesse Lee Home.

“Seward loves the legacy of the Jesse Lee Home,” Terry says, “They’re not saying they want to preserve the history. They’re saying they want to preserve the building. We have a great opportunity to build a memorial.”

But, the Alaska Association of Historic Preservation did put the Jesse Lee Home on its list of the 10 Most Endangered Properties in 1993, where it’s been nearly every year since.

“There are students who attended the Jesse Lee Home that went on to be leaders in their own right,” Neal says, “Leaders of the land claims in the ’60s and Alaska Native Corporations. One of them was the first Alaska native to earn his PhD at Alaska Pacific University. There’s a lot of history.”

In 1946, the U.S. Army set up its headquarters for Fort Raymond at the Jesse Lee Home and, concerned the school may be a target, requested the children be evacuated.

“They painted large trees on the roof and on the exterior,” Neal says, “They sent the kids to Sitka and Wrangell until the war was over.”

The school ran until the 1964 earthquake.

“We recognize these properties with deficiencies,” Neal says, “They’re in danger of being lost.”

Terry says the push to save the house is coming from one person with an agenda, although she wouldn’t name who that person is. She alleges that the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home mismanaged funds in its efforts to preserve the home.

When asked if the battle over the Jesse Lee Home is a personal vendetta between the city and the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home, Terry said, “Not at all. I question if it is on the other side. I am disappointed in how they are painting the citizens of Seward.”

“Six years later, little to nothing has been done to those buildings that they’ve deteriorated even further,” Terry said, “So, it’s very hard for the community over all these years and there’s some level of skepticism with an organization that we don’t know.”

The Alaska Association of Historic Preservation is not an unknown organization. It has been established for 39 years. It is working with the Naknek Cannery History project and the Friends of Nike Site Summit — a historic military installation in the Chugach Mountains.

“I sent Mayor Terry a proposal that gives information on who we are as a non-profit and a bit of history about the school,” explains Neal, “We have architects and grant writers on our board and we work with those organizations.”

“I don’t understand why it’s not important to most of the council to save this building,” said Neal, “The city manager has made it very clear that he wants it gone.”

Seward City Manager Scott Meszaros was not available for comment on this story.

Terry cites the specific requirements tied to the state grant money for the demolition. But, the state has discretion to move deadlines tied to grant money. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the state has moved hurdles for businesses and non-profits to stay afloat.

However, part of the $1.07 million in grant money is allocated to build a memorial on the site, if the Home is demolished. The council’s resolution doesn’t demarcate any allocation of funds for the memorial the mayor says she wants to build on the site.

“We don’t want to be tied to a dollar amount to the memorial,” she said.

Terry says preserving the history isn’t tied to preserving the Jesse Lee Home.

“The city wants to save the history and the legacy of the Jesse Lee Home,” Terry says, “As part of the grant, we will be saving the records, saving the permanent vault, all of the materials will be preserved in our museum and our library.”

But, all of those assets belong to Alaska Child and Family, a residential children’s home in Anchorage, which grew out of the Jesse Lee Home when it moved its services to Anchorage.  Alaska Child and Family is now the oldest nonprofit serving children in the state. 

Its president and CEO issued this statement about the council’s choice to demolish its founding Home:

“The Jesse Lee Home holds a significant place in history in our 49th state.  It’s the birthplace of Alaska’s flag, designed by school boy Benny Benson.  Famous alumni of the Jesse Lee Home include Simeon Oliver, pianist and composer and P. Gordon Gould, founder of Alaska Methodist University (now Alaska Pacific University).  During World War II, the home was temporarily evacuated and Fort Raymond was established.  The buildings were painted in camouflauge as protection from air strikes.  Our hearts are heavy with sadness hearing that the historical Jesse Lee Home buildings in Seward may soon be demolished due to the fiscal challenges inherent in preserving and restoring the buildings,” said Anne Dennis-Choi, president and CEO of Alaska Child and Family.

When asked why she wouldn’t consider saving the Home and its resources, the mayor flippantly responded, “Is that building able to be rehabilitated?”

Schneider Structural Engineers says it is.  In it’s April 2020 assessment of the Home, its engineers reported:

“Since 2013 (SSE previous evaluation) the building has really deteriorated. Overall, the structure/s are not in bad shape given the history. If restoration is to be considered it should be done very soon. Restoration is a viable option in our opinion.”

“I think that’s two different things,” Terry said, “We can have something on site that gives it honor. Is one more valuable than the other?”

“We proposed that we spearhead it,” said Neal, “Phase 1 is stabilization and abatement. I’ve already talked to an architect and found a couple of things we can do to save money. Phase 2 is to replace the roof or a put on a temporary roof.”

The city says restoring the home will cost $29 million.

“I don’t think it’s going to be $29 million to restore the home,” says Neal, “The bottom line is no one ever said the city had to come up with the money.”

Terry said she met with Judy Bittner, the State Historic Preservation Officer and Lt. Governor Kevin Myer by telephone.

“We talked about the resolution Monday night, how to retain history, how funds could be used for that resolution,” Terry said, “He said the state would support whatever the community wants on the site after the demolition — whatever gets decided by council.”

When asked if her mind was made up and she was planning as if the council had already approved the resolution to demolish the Jesse Lee Home, Terry denied it.

“I am charged not to have my mind made up until I get to the meeting,” she said.

“My hope is that that council will at least delay a vote or at least delay a demolition until we can talk to them or get a group together,” says Neal, “The plans are we’re going to put together a committee who are invested in working to save the building.”

“[The proposal] doesn’t have enough of a timeline for me,” says Terry, “I need to hear more from that group and what their commitment is.”

But, Neal asked city administration and the mayor for permission to give a presentation to the council before Monday’s vote and was denied. Also, the Seward Historic Preservation Commission asked for a work session with the city council to discuss options of saving the Home and it was denied.

As for tonight’s city council meeting, the Seward City Clerk’s office accepted public comment — and requests from the public to testify by telephone — until 2:00 p.m. today.

“I sent 12 letters that have come to me from the public to the city council to be read at the hearing,” Neal says, “And I have 28 pages of comments from Facebook in favor of saving the home.”

Neal requested the clerk pass those comments on to the city council.

The city council will hear public testimony on the resolution at 7:00 p.m. tonight.

And the decision to save or demolish the Home where an Aleut boy helped shape the history and the traditions of Alaska is in the hands of seven Seward city council members. When asked if the council reached out to the regional Alaska Native Corporations or the Alaska Federation of Natives for their input on the future of the Jesse Lee Home, Terry said she hadn’t.

“Our city manager has discussions with native corporations and that would have been a wonderful outcome to have their input,” Terry said.

The Alaska Federation of Natives did give its input by passing a 2006 Convention Resolution to support the Jesse Lee Home. Cook Inlet Region, Inc. and the Chugach Regional Corporation, founding members of the Friends of Jesse Lee Home, sponsored the initiative to “support ongoing efforts to preserve and restore the Jesse Lee Home.”

This is developing story