Extensive Renovations in Whittier’s Begich Tower

Extensive Renovations in Whittier’s Begich Tower

By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette

Sixty years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers built the Hodge Building in Whittier for Army offices and officer family residences. The building was renamed Begich Tower, Inc. in honor of Congressman Nick Begich, who died in a plane crash with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs in 1972. This summer, BTI is undergoing extensive renovations to address years of wear and tear and replace aging equipment essential to the building’s residents.

With 14 stories, 193 condominiums, and around 330 residents, BTI houses 80 percent of Whittier’s population. Around 20 percent of Whittier residents live at The Manor, contradicting the popular media myth that everybody in the city lives in one building. One of the biggest issues facing BTI residents was the dilapidated condition of the building’s ancient boilers, which were installed in 1967.

The boilers were continuously breaking down and had reached the end of their usefulness. If both ceased functioning for any length of time, most of Whittier’s residents would be without hot water, which would have a major effect throughout the city. New boilers come with a hefty price tag, and it is the responsibility of Begich Tower Condominium Association of Apartment Owners, Inc. to pay for them.

Dr. Karen E. Dempster is President BTI Board of Directors, and she searched for a solution to this expensive dilemma. Because BTI is a historical building, it is eligible for specific loans from the federal government to encourage preservation.

“I landed a $3 million, 40-year, fixed interest loan from USDA to acquire new boilers, improve our hydronic systems, our air handlers, seal and paint the outside of our building and work on security cameras and our basement plumbing. We were on only one working boiler when we got the loan, and USDA was wonderful in allowing us to advance purchase the boilers and parts so we would not go through another rocky winter with ‘Will the boilers last?’”

The person in charge of overseeing this essential project is Dan Johnson, BTI’s General Manager, who has been on the job for six months. He heard about the history of the failing boilers and experienced their cranky behavior for himself.

“We had two of them,” Johnson said, “and one of them went down a year ago, so we were surviving off of one and we were putting so much into it that the decision was made by the board to get an upgrade, and this is where we are now. It just didn’t make any sense to fix something that was so old. That is why the decision was made to put in the new boilers.”

Johnson is excited about the performance of the new boilers and the reduced maintenance load required to keep them running.

“The new boilers are state of the art. We have three of them now. They’ll run in cycles of 8 hours, 8 hours and 8 hours. That way it increases the lifetime on them instead of running 24/7 on the old one. With the new ones, they should last 20 or 30 years.”

Other equipment overhauls were also necessary due to aging. BTI’s pipes experienced a lot of wear and tear, creating occasional leaks that had to be addressed by the maintenance team. Replacing the pipes caused the most inconvenience to BTI residents since the water had to be shut off for long periods of time to complete the work. Residents were given notice so they could plan ahead for the lack of water.

“The only challenge, if you want to call it a challenge, is we had to have the hot water shut down five different time periods at eight hours at a time, and that was only so they could switch out old piping and get new piping in. We give our people 72 hours notice. We lost domestic water for a day, and the rest of the time it was just hot water. Everyone in the building was really supportive, and it really helped us out.”

BTI’s interior isn’t the only part of the building receiving renovation. The exterior is being painted as well. It’s a process that takes three years to complete. Painters only have a four-month window every year to do their work and only so many days a week because rain and wind are always a factor.

“It’s a really tough process because so much wear and tear is done to the building because it gets done every 10 to 15 years,” Johnson said. “The paint wears. There are repairs to the concrete. You have to dig out areas, refill them and patch them, primer and paint them. For him, it’s really challenging because it’s so much work he has to do. He does a really good job.”

BTI’s 1st and 2nd floors have received considerable attention and remodeling in preparation for a new exhibition. “We cleaned all of the walls,” Johnson said. “We textured them. We primered and painted them. All that is done and looks great. On the first floor, we’re finishing up the doorjambs and the doors. As soon as the walls are painted, we’ll be getting all new flooring on the first floor.”

The exhibition is curated by Ted Spencer, who put together the Prince William Sound Museum. The exhibit will be open to the public and will feature many photographs and documents to tell the history of Whittier.

This article was sponsored in part by Kenai Mountain-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area.