An acre of muskeg along Petersburg’s busy Haugen Drive has been slowly transforming into a parking lot over the last month.
It’s owned by Petersburg’s tribe, the Petersburg Indian Association, or PIA. Tribal Administrator Jalyn Pomrenke said the end goal isn’t just a parking lot at the corner of 12th Street, but there is no specific plan yet for what to build beyond parking.
“That would be something for the council and the tribe to decide on eventually,” she said. “You know, finding funding is always the first step, and I think whatever direction we go for funding would possibly dictate what is going to be on that space. But again, those options are left up to the council and the tribe.”
The tribe is paying for the parking lot with nearly half a million dollars in federal COVID relief money. Pomrenke admitted that’s an expensive parking lot. but she said it’s an investment in what’s to come. Having the land shovel-ready makes it easier for the tribe to apply for other grants to build on the land.
“A lot of projects like this, we have to go through an environmental review for any type of digging, any type of construction work,” she said. “And so this can help us have the steps already in place so that when we do get funding for other opportunities, we’re not spending a lot of money checking boxes.”
Part of the lot will be used for parking. Pomrenke said the project kills two birds with one stone. The tribe is remodeling the downstairs of the Elizabeth Peratrovich building across the street, with plans to rent out commercial office space. Once those offices are ready, PIA’s current parking lot will be out of code, because there won’t be enough spaces for the number of offices in the building.
Pomrenke said the plans have been in the works for quite awhile. The tribal council voted to fund the project nearly two years ago.
“The downstairs remodel and the parking lot project was something that was put into play by our previous tribal council,” she said. “We’re finally just seeing the follow through with the actual work.”
The tribe expects the parking lot to be finished by mid-December.
