Pilgrim Hot Springs on endangered historic sites list

With century-old structures at risk of collapse and frequent problems with flooding, Pilgrim Hot Springs is fifth on Preservation Alaska’s list of the 11 most endangered historic properties in the state.

A place on the list, which was released last week, is a way to raise awareness about the condition of the site and to leverage funding for restoration projects that could cost millions of dollars.

“A lot of people from the region are connected to the site in various ways, either having relatives who lived there before, or people that have visited the property throughout the past century,” said Amanda Toerdal, general manager of Pilgrim Hot Springs for Kawerak, which submitted the nomination. “The buildings are just in a state of deterioration, and they need a lot of attention.”

Preservation Alaska’s annual rankings, which began in 1991, “recognize historic buildings in the state that are in danger of being lost to history,” said Trish Neal, the president of the Anchorage-based organization. Typically, 10 sites are included. This year there are 11 because of so many new nominations, Neal said. First on the 2022 list is the 4th Avenue Theatre in Anchorage, followed by Ascension of Our Lord Chapel in Karluk and then, a new addition, Bishop Rowe Chapel in Arctic Village. Pilgrim was also listed in 2016 and 2021.

Located about 60 miles north of Nome, 7 miles off the Kougarok Road, Pilgrim’s healing waters and lush oasis environment have been important to the people of this region for centuries, but most of the buildings there were constructed between 1910 and 1930. The Catholic church bought the estate in 1917, intending to turn it into a mission to serve the community of Mary’s Igloo. When the 1918-1919 flu epidemic hit the Alaska Native population of the Bering Strait region particularly hard, the church established an orphanage to respond to the tragedy. More than half of the residents in Mary’s Igloo are thought to have died. Since the middle of the 20th century, a string of families serving as caretakers have tended to the property and it has largely been used for recreation.

In late 2009, the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska sold the 320-acre estate to a consortium of seven organizations that formed Unaatuq, LLC. Two of those organizations, Kawerak and the Bering Straits Native Corporation, co-manage the operations of the site.

“The buildings provide a really good perspective of how the orphanage was run by the Catholics,” said Roy Ashenfelter, a board member of the BSNC. “We would like to try as best we can to preserve the buildings.”

Of the seven historic buildings at Pilgrim, the one in need of the most urgent repairs is the dormitory, also known as the bunk house, which is sagging at one end.

“It’s close to collapse,” Toerdal said. “And we just really don’t want it to get to that point.”

Toerdal said estimating the total cost of necessary renovations is difficult, but to complete the initial stabilization work of the bunk house alone is a several hundred-thousand-dollar effort. To fully restore it as an accurate historic replica—and incorporate modern conveniences and year-round facilities using geothermal electricity and heating—would likely be at least a $3 million project, she added.

Pilgrim’s geothermal resources have long been discussed as a potential source of energy for the region. Last year the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Kawerak a $1.5 million federal grant for a project to electrify and heat the buildings at Pilgrim using the local geothermal energy. Toerdal said the organization is looking at historical preservation funding opportunities through the National Park Service, as well as other economic development funds and state and federal grants.

Beyond the bunk house, most of the other structures have some degree of instability. Even the most structurally sound buildings, the church and the nun’s quarters, have suffered from weathering and some vandalism, according to the nomination form that Kawerak submitted to Preservation Alaska this spring. The organization said the property is also threatened by erosion and flooding. Rising water levels put much of the historic wooden bathing tub underwater in 2019 and 2020, and threatened to disrupt the cemetery and mass burial site from the 19181919 flu.

While increased snow fall and snow melt due to climate change is partially responsible for the flooding, beavers are also to blame. Dams can be removed and beavers can be hunted, but Unaatuq tried a different mitigation approach last year. The consortium hired contractor Skip Lisle, based in Vermont, to install his specialized filtration systems known as “beaver deceivers” in a culvert and within a local beaver dam to filter water through the property. According to Kawerak, this has reduced the water levels, which is most noticeable in the area in front of the church and the historic bathing tub.

This summer Kawerak is hiring for a new position at Pilgrim: a farm manager. Since the first harvest from a test garden in 2016, the owners have been reviving agriculture using the site’s warm fertile soil. Toerdal said she’s still looking at applications and hopes to have someone hired next month.