Hoben Park, located on the corner of Fourth and Railway, has been listed on the Seward Register of Historic Places for its significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The period of determined significance begins when the park was first formed, and ends with the death of park steward Harry Hoben.
As a waiting place for steamship passengers, Hoben Park contributed to the development of the City as a landscape architectural site. Steamship traffic and service to Seward was heavy back in the day, according to the Seward Historic Preservation Commission website, “it wasn’t unusual to read reports of five boat arriving within two days. In fact, Seward was averaging 20 to 30 steamers a month.”
The Park recently joined 83,000 other important buildings, sites, structures, and objects in the nation’s catalogue of its cultural and historic resources, otherwise known as the National Register of Historic Places, on June 21st of this year. All work on the project must comply with The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties,
The installation of historic lamp posts jump started efforts to bring the park back to its area of historical significance, 1922-1940. Seward Parks and Recreation plans to also add a water fountain and appropriate landscaping. At the July 24th City Council meeting, Tylan Schrock suggested the Alaska Sealife Center Board of Directors agreed to donate up to $50,000 for Hoben Park restoration efforts.
At their August 14th meeting, the Seward City Council may approve use of monies from a State of Alaska Historic Preservation Grant to purchase and install 260 feet of wrought iron fencing along Hoben Park’s North and West boundaries. The project is estimated to cost $33,000.
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