Riverwalk Historical Walking Tour Preview

1

Pioneer Park

Historical-themed park with museums, shops, food, picnic areas, train rides and much more. Spend a little time in the past at Fairbanks' community park.

2

Chena River

World-class, catch and release grayling fishing river. Also host to a variety of summer water sports such as canoeing, kayaking, jet skiing and motorboating.

3

Arctic Winter Games Legacy Cauldron

The 2014 Arctic Winter Games Legacy Cauldron was built in partnership with the Tanana Valley Youth Sports Foundation, Arctic Star donors and the generous donation of labor and materials from local design, engineering and construction firms. “This Cauldron celebrates youth sports at the Games and will continue to inspire our young athletes well into the future,” said Tanana Valley Youth Sports Foundation Board President, Kent Karns.Additionally, a second legacy project developed as a result of hosting the Games was a borough-wide recycling initiative at local event venues. Recycling receptacles were purchased and deposited across the city. Watch the educational recycling video produced for the Games.

4

Hap Ryder Riverfront Theatre

Home to the Fairbanks Drama Association and Fairbanks Children's Theatre. The theatre has provided 52 seasons of community theatre. Captivated by the pristine all-encompassing wilderness; artists find the Fairbanks region a wellspring of creativity. Museums, exhibitions, local shops, open air markets, and more display art of all kinds—paintings, ceramics, masks, found art, sculpture and photography.

5

Janel Thompson Park

This park is one of many parks overseen by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation Department who preserves and creates an inclusive community culture by providing places and programs designed to enrich the quality of life.

6

Aurora Energy

Did you know the coldest recorded temperature in Fairbanks is minus sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit? You are passing Aurora Energy's coal-fired co-generation plant. It is producing power, steam and hot water heat. Burning the coal to produce power generates steam. The steam is routed through underground pipes throughout downtown then brought up through the baseboards of individual buildings for heating purposes.

7

Chena River Walk

This route you are walking now is known as the Chena Riverwalk, overseen by Festival Fairbanks, along the Chena River downtown to Pioneer park at Peger Road. This path connects to other bike paths around the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

8

Downtown Fairbanks

Fairbanks' downtown area is the perfect destination when looking for locally-based products, with more than 300 Alaskan-owned businesses, such as: art galleries, gift shops, Alaska Native gifts, coffee shops, antique shops and restaurants to satisfy any adventurous taste bud, such as barbecue, Greek, Thai, Mediterranean, fine and casual dining.

9

R.C. Wood House

Across the street, you find the R.C Wood House. R.C. Wood's banking career in Fairbanks began as cashier for E.T. Barnette's Fairbanks Banking Company. In 1909, Wood took over the management of the First National Bank of Fairbanks. His original one-story house was built on this site in 1906. When President Harding came to town in 1923, he had dinner at this beautiful home overlooking the Chena River. The ravages of time took their toll and the original structure had to be destroyed in 1997. The recent construction of this house duplicates the original design.

10

St. Matthews Episcopal Church

Across the street you will find St. Matthews Church. It is one of the three oldest churches in Fairbanks. The original church building burned in 1947, but the great wooden altar and other carvings were saved, and were replaced with the present St. Matthew's Church building.

11

1129 1st Ave

Across the street you'll see a small cottage, of the Queen Anne style, which was built in 1920.

12

Claypool/Berry Home

Across the street you'll see the home built for Judge Charles Claypool in 1911. One of the earliest frame homes in Fairbanks, it was built on the edge of town. In 1925, the new owner, Otis Berry, raised the home and installed a huge center cross-beam from a beached sternwheeler under it for support. During this time, the stretch of the Chena River across 1st Ave was a shipyard.

13

A note about rivers

Many rivers in Alaska end with the "nah" syllable—Chena, Nenana, Tanana, etc. "Nah" is the Athabascan word meaning "river". There are also many rivers which end in "knee-ka" —Chatanika, Tetlanika—which is the Athabascan word meaning "small river."

14

Alaska Army National Guard Readiness Center and Recruiting Office

On your left, across the street is the Alaska Army National Guard Readiness Center. The Fairbanks community is home to many active and retired military personnel and their dependents. With one Army and one Air Force base in both Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska has the country's highest concentration of former military personnel.

15

Fairbanks Curling Club

Fairbanks Curling Club, officially established in 1905, is the oldest organized sports group in Alaska.

16

Growden Park

Popular playground and park is used for a variety of recreational activities, such as the Fairbanks Goldpanners, a collegiate summer baseball team. The Goldpanners are renowned for their Midnight Sun Game, played June 21, when the first pitch is at 10pm. The entire game is played with no artificial lighting.

17

Carlson Center

A multi-purpose arena home to many events, sporting and outdoor tradeshows, collegiate hockey, music concerts, ComicCons, and comedians. Be sure to check the online community calendar from Explore Fairbanks for a list of upcoming activities throughout town.

18

Finish!

Thank you for participating in this year's Visitor Industry Walk For Charity. Your support is helping numerous non-profits in the Fairbanks community.