The Sutton Community Hall Working Group wants to save the crumbling Sutton Community Hall.
The Hall wasn’t always in Sutton. It wasn’t always crumbling. The single-story wooden structure was built in 1927. It was a bunkhouse for the workers who built the Eklutna Power Plant. The building was moved to Sutton in 1954. A basement and foundation were added. The Sutton Community Hall hosted events and gatherings for decades.
The Alpine Civic Club has stewarded the property since 1959. The basement started collapsing as the building aged. The Club wanted to put it on a new foundation. However, they lacked funding to proceed.
The Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. It had fallen into disrepair by then and was no longer used.
A push to explore whether the hall could be restored began in 2022. The Sutton Community Hall Working Group formed and came up with ideas for the building. They supported assessing contamination hazards and the potential for cleanup.
Richard Chiolero ran the Environmental Department at Chickaloon Village Traditional Council. He had an idea. He would research whether they could get funding through the Brownfield Program. The US Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA) had created the program to identify possible contaminated sites and provide a way to clean them up for re-use. It seemed a perfect fit.
Chiolero submitted a Draft Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup (DBAC) application to request funding. The Sutton Community Council provided a letter of support.
The EPA and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation provided the funding for samples to be collected and analyzed. Samples were taken inside the building, outside the building, and in the soil. They were sent to laboratories to determine whether there is contamination from oil, asbestos, lead, or other common contaminants found in old buildings. Another round of sampling may be done.
Engineers and architects have walked through the site. They noted weakness in the structural integrity. The building would probably not survive being moved again.
The Community Hall Working Group continues to assess information as it comes in. The next milestone will happen when laboratory results are completed, probably in the fall. A community meeting will follow. The community is working step by step with agencies to address the contamination and to envision a new use for this site. The Hall holds so much of the history of Sutton and the surrounding area.
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This Page Two article was reported by Kendra Zamzow and produced by yours truly, Lee Henrikson. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Friday June 5, 2026.