What's Going To Happen To Totem Theaters?

On my bike ride back from the Muldoon Saturday Market at  Chanshtnu Park, I rode through the parking lot of the Totem Theater.  I've passed by several times this summer and noticed that while things look dead, once in a while I see someone go in.  And two weeks ago they said they were showing Freaky Friday on the marquee.  

And today again I saw someone going in..  So biked over to the entrance and the man came out.  I asked what was
happening and he said he didn't really know.  But Totem was pretty much closed down.  I asked about the possibilities I've thought about as I've come by here over the summer.  The individual theaters could be used for church services, for musical events, theater, speakers, weddings, all sorts of things.  Even showing movies.  

He said it was a Regal theater - like the Dimond Mall theaters and Tikahtnu.  That the company is owned by a corporation in England.  

When I got home I looked it up.  Wikipedia has a long piece on them.  

"Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema chain and operator. Headquartered in London, England, it is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites[3] in 10 countries:[4] Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[5][6] The group's primary brands are Cineworld Cinemas and Picturehouse in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Cinema City in Eastern and Central Europe, Planet in Israel, and Regal Cinemas in the United States."

There's a long history including being bought by Blackstone private equity company and then later being sold, buying Regal, COVID, bankruptcy, not necessarily in that order.  

Regal, by the way, is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"By 2001, Regal was overextended, and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It became the namesake for the theater chain in which it would be merged into with the Edwards and United Artists chains.[10][11]

When all three chains went into bankruptcy, investor Philip Anschutz bought substantial investments in all three companies, becoming majority owner.[18] In 2002, Anschutz consolidated his three theatre holdings under a new parent company, Regal Entertainment Group.[19] Regal's Mike Campbell and UA's Kurt Hall were named co-CEOs, with Campbell overseeing the theatre operations from Regal Cinemas' headquarters in Knoxville, and Kurt Hall heading up a new subsidiary, Regal CineMedia, from the UA offices in Centennial, Colorado. The Edwards corporate offices were closed."  (from Wikipedia)

The movie theater business has had tough times since Blockbuster came on the scene.  Then streaming video added to the problem and bigger and bigger home screens, and of course, COVID.  

But what happens to a community like Anchorage when big pieces of real estate are owned by far away - Knoxville and London - corporations?  What say do we have?  Who do we talk to and why would they even care?  It doesn't seem to be for sale, yet.  The building and the parking lot are pretty big.  But at the moment we're losing population.  Who locally would buy it?  A developer?

The man I talked to said that the Totem theater was his first job when he was 16 years old.  He stayed with the company until he was 19, when they first got bought out.  That there were a lot of changes all at once so he decided to leave and try something else.  

One day, he said, the general manager, who was also his good friend, called and jokingly asked if he wanted to work at the Totem again, and the he surprised his general manager friend by saying yes.  That was when he was 21. 

He said he is 26 now and that he literally 'grew up here" in the building and that he's sad to see it go.  

"I'll always appreciated the buiding and what it stood for."

Talking to him I was convinced - vibes as much as words - that he's a serious worker, takes the job to heart, and if I had a position, I'd hire him in a minute.  

Then I went over to get a picture of the marquee and I see that across the street from the Totem,  the Wayland Baptist University, has a For Sale sign up.  If you want to buy it, the number is 907 762 5801.

An Alaska Business magazine article begins:

"Texas-based Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is emptying its Alaska classrooms and transitioning to online instruction only. The school’s campus in Anchorage will be sold, its leased location in Wasilla vacated, and classrooms at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base returned to military service."

How many low cost housing units could be built on the Totem's big parking lot?  How many empty buildings like WBU do we have now?  I say we should look at these as opportunities to reimagine how they can be used and not just let them rot.  

[I had almost finished this last night, but left it for today.  I noticed that the Anchorage Daily News mentions the closure of the Totem in its story today on businesses that have recently opened and closed.]

 

Anchorage Stands With Ukraine As Trump and Putin Seem To Be Heading Here

I say seem because so many people think that one or the other or both will pull out at the last minute.  But the first protest (that I know of) was this afternoon.  Lots of peoples, lots of rumors, lots of questions, lots of noise, lots of cars and trucks honking with the protestors, cars with Ukrainian flags. 

You'd think that Putin and Trump meeting in Alaska to discuss a cease fire in Ukraine would be at the top of the news, but Trump leaves so much debris in his wake, that there are a dozen stories competing.  And so none get the attention and outrage they deserve.  

• Texas redistricting and California's response.  
• Federal troops taking over Washington DC.  
• Masked and armed thugs claiming to be ICE continuing to sweep up dark people without regard to their legal status, including US citizens, and shipping them off to distant detention centers, and possibly off to countries which apparently are getting payoffs to take them from Trump, 
• The massive wealth vacuum in the White House, cementing the Rose Garden and making the East Wing of the White House into a glitzy ballroom
• Shaking down universities and other institutions that pursue truth
• Firing the head of the BLS because he doesn't like her employment data
• Leaning on institutions to erase all history of people who aren't white

I could go on, but you get the point.  But much of what Trump does these days is terrible by itself, and a distraction from releasing the Epstein files.  Is that what this trip to Alaska is?  

It was supposed to go from 4:30-6;00 on one of the busiest corners in rush hour Anchorage - Northern Lights and Seward Highway.  I got there about 5:20 after picking up our weekly CSA vegetables at Grow North Farm in Mountain View.  

I couldn't tell you how many people were there altogether - 500?  1000? 1500?  Couldn't say.  Lots.  Planning really started at a meeting on Monday!

There were lots of rumors flying and I'm going to check out one right after I post this.  That rumor was that the Russian delegation asked for 400 visas and then for rooms.  They finally got put up at the University of Alaska Anchorage dorms.  I'll go over there shortly and see if I see any Russians.  

Rooms are scarce.  It's high tourist season.  So pictures for now and I'll fill in when I get back from the UAA dorms.  

[UPDATE: 11:10pm - Back from campus. The rumors are true.  See the next post for more details and pictures.]

This is an Estonian journalist.  Estonians have a strong interest in what happens in Ukraine.  They have lots of Russians and are a very small country that borders Russia.  

And below a Polish journalist asked my friend John some questions.  

Her 

I understand that this flag was sewn here in Anchorage this week.  It has a lot of smaller pieces sewn together sort of like a quilt.  

This guy was still there well after six when most folks had gone home already.  

This is Erin Jackson-Hill who heads Stand Up Alaska and was the driving force at the center of this rally.

 

Going To The Dogs In A Good Way

The Anchorage Museum has a dog exhibit this summer.  I thought about the dog pictures people put up on social media platforms and skipped it.  I was more interested in the famous artists: 

"historical images, contemporary art, and major artworks on loan from the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Bridges Foundation, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Nevada Museum of Art, and the Stanley Museum of Art. 

Artists included in this exhibition include: Rebecca Lyon, Daniel Martinez, Ken Lisbourne, Jessica Winters, Adolph Gottlieb, Grace Hartigan, Theodore Roszak, Kurt Riemann, Conrad Marca-Relli, Trevor Paglen, Peter Ermey, Amy Burrell, Annie Murdock, Mark Rothko, Vera Mulyani, Franz Kline, Charles Stankievech, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Ben Huff, and Dan Deroux."  

I was particularly looking to see the Mark Rothko paintings.  Okay, it takes a certain kind of person to be excited about Rothko's art.  And standing before one is a very different experience than looking a pictures of them.  Unfortunately, there was only one piece of his - not a particularly exciting one - and all these artists' paintings were somehow used to illustrate an installation on 

"COLD WAR TO THE COSMOS: DISTANT EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS AND THE ARCTIC"

The best part as I cursorily walked through it were the parts related to Peter Dunlap-Shohl's Nuking Alaska.  I had been expecting a great art exhibit, but the paintings were used to illustrate the Cold War.  I probably should go back. (Generally I like the juxtaposition of unexpected things, but I was looking forward to the Rothkos and was disappointed there was only one.)

But this recent visit was to see what they did with dogs.  And they did very well.  A thoughtful exhibit.  

There were plenty of sled dogs.  But they were given a bit more context than they usually get.  

The scrimshaw, and this James Albert Frost's The Sleigh Team on the right.                                       "The Sleigh Team is one of a series of illustrations by George Albert Frost for Tent Life in Siberia, a travelogue of George Kennan chronicling their 1885 travels across Kamchatka.  Keenan's writing identifies the attributes of the Siberian Husky (enduring, disciplined, and observant), indigenous sled technologies such as the oersted - a 4-foot wooden stick with an iron spike - used to slow the dog team and his own knowledge about the difficulty of mushing:  "The art of driving a dog-team is one of the most deceptive in the world. . . [one is] generally convinced by hard experience that a dog-driver, like a poet, is born, not made."

And we have more modern images.  From Alaska Natives themselves.  

Rosie Charlie, Basket c1972

Pootoogook, Composition
(Woman with Dogsled) 1991

 

But there are lots, maybe more, depictions of dogs from a whole array of artists.  A few examples:

This is a quilt by Chichi and Giannone called Coleccionistas de trapos [Rag collectors] 2022.   "Argentine artistic duo Leo Chichi and Daniel Gannon portray themselves in an everyday moment with their children/pet dogs.  Created from collected and salvaged textiles, the artists use their materials to transform and re-inscribe stories that celebrate "Cuevas configurations familiars, en este case una familia lgtbq multi specie, rodeados de un mundo de telas que representa los recuerdos, tiempos y memorias de quienes han pertenecido pestos trapos."/"new familial configurations, in this case, a multi-species LGTBQ family, surrounded by a world of textiles that represents the memories and times of those who formerly owned these 'rags.'"                     

Gordon Parks, Woman and Dog in
Window, Harlem, New York 1943

And this dreamy picture is by Shona McAndrew  "Oh, To Be Loved"  2023

Sesse Elangwe, A Different Kind of Love, 2022

"Texas-based Cameroonian artist Sesse Elangwe frequently paints his subjects with bold colors and patterns to celebrate their individuality and confidence.  Reflecting on this work, which also features three pet dogs, Elangwe shares, 'We look so different but so alike;  you're my soul's true counterpart.'"

There is a lot more to see in the museum.  A good reason to get an annual membership that allows you to go as often as you want so you can look at one small part on each visit.  Or you can go free on the first Fridays of the month.    

And I want to call people's attention to the exhibit in the atrium - photos, large photos, by Roman Dial of the trips he's taken, often cross country for miles and miles, through Alaska's wild lands with friends and family.  Here's one picture I found amazing - both the picture itself and how it is presented.  

I didn't catch the title, but there's a packraft at the bottom and then folks way up on top of the ice.  And it's displayed right on the wall, over a door with the handle right there.  

 Again, I encourage folks to go.  Get distracted, get your brain stimulated, or your heart.  

SUMMER HOURS (May - September)
10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Monday - Sunday
*Extended hours through 9 p.m. on First Fridays with free admission after 6 p.m.

MUSEUM Admission & Tickets

$25 Adult (18-64)
$20 Alaska resident (18-64)
$18 Ages 13-17, senior (ages 65+), military, and students 
$12 Ages 6-12*
FREE Children age 5 and younger, museum members, and enrolled members of federally recognized tribes.

*Children age 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older. 

There are a number of times when there are free or discounted tickets which you can see here.

Or find a friend with a membership who can take you as a guest.  Or get your own membership.  

 

Grow North Farm, Muldoon Saturday Market, Stand Up For John Lewis

 These are some of the veggıes I pıcked up last week from Grow North Farm.  By subscribing to the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) I pick up a selection of vegetables they select from what is ready to harvest each week.  You can see

I got a basic recipe for turnip greens online, but spruced it up.  It came with onions and garlic.  In addition to the turnip greens (which I steamed withwhite wine) and added walnut pieces, raisins, and hot sauce.

I thought it was great.  My wife ate it, which is always a positive.  

She made the turnips and cooked up the kale the next night.  

There were two booths selling non-food items.  And that many selling vegetables.  Some of that may be due to it being early in the season and not that much is ready to harvest.  But refugees raise the crops at this farm and wonder how much ICE fear is impacting the market.  And I'm trying to figure out ways to let you know how to contact vendors without making that information easily collectable.  Photos probably.  Mirthalaska.com

The soaps were amazing.  The fragrance was not overpowering (like a certain department store that no longer has a location in Anchorage) and the designs are spectacular.  They almost look like they belong in a bakery.  

This "is a seed from the ivory palm in South American rainforests" according to the bookmark sized card the vendor passed out.  It's an ivory alternative.

The necklaces below are made from this Tagua Ivory.  The card also says, "I design in Alaska, and our products are made in Columbia."   www.lajoyatagua.com  From the website:

"The main mission of LA JOYA is to empower women in Colombia who have been the victims of social problems.

Through developing jewelry made from natural seeds, in sustainable ways, we are preserving the environment and contributing to the social development of communities."

​

This was a week ago Thursday.  

That Saturday I went to the market on Muldoon.  Chanshtnu Park.  

I'm not sure if it's just early and people are waiting for other things to ripen or people are concerned about ICE showing up.  Many of the food vendors at this market were refugees in the past.  Someone else suggested there were just too many farmers' markets competing.  

Eclectic Cal describes this booth well.  The key things I saw were the carved walking sticks (lower right behind the blue jug) and the chaga.  Cal also took part in the musical part of the market.  He also offered chaga tea so people could taste it.

Cleveland Clinic has a page on Chaga:

"Sure, you’ve heard of portobello and shiitake mushrooms. But have you heard of chaga mushrooms?

Typically found in Siberia, the fungi have been used throughout history to boost immunity thanks to it being full of antioxidants."

And in Alaska too.  On birch trees.  An Alaska Native gentleman carrying his very young grandson knew what chaga was.  Something he'd collected.   

And this is Alizka.  She grew up in the mountains in Romania and is right at home gathering wild edibles and medicines here as well.  We didn't talk about nationality (though she speaks Hungarian as well as Romanian and English) and she agreed to the photo, but I've smudged her face just to be on the safe side. (I hate having to do this.) She offered a blueberry and (some kind of seaweed from the Atlantic) paste that has some crazy high percentage of vitamins and minerals people need.  She also had a lot of different salves.  you can contact her at novalunaherbals@gmail.com.  

I was back to get my weekly allotment of veggies at Grow North again this past Thursday and from there I biked to the Park Strip for the celebration of John Lewis.  I'm behind in my blogging so I'll leave it at that rather than try to add more.  Let me get this up first.  

If you want to Stand Up, this is an organization that is coordinating with lots of others working to 

"To stand up for social, housing, environmental, economic, and racial justice across the state of Alaska. We are a BIPOC led 501c4 that uses direct action to confront systemic injustice, mobilize community, and amplify underrepresented voices." (From the Stand Up Alaska website.)

 

 They have zoom orientations on Wednesdays at 7pm and I went this past Wednesday to find out what all they're doing.  Their website will help out.  I'd recommend the Wednesday night zoom.  Just click on the Action Alaska zoom and will tell you how to connect.  I got a full orientation and got to ask lots of questions.  

Bridge For Sale, Maybe [Updated]

 Here's the bridge.  It crosses Campbell Creek near 56th and 57th Avenues.  

The trail to the bridge is being eroded by the creek.  If you're biking, you've come from the Arctic Roadrunner on Old Seward Highway, and gotten to an 'offramp' to 56th Avenue to the right as you ride to the left.  There's a spot where the creek is eroding the earth right next to the trail.  Then you come to a curve with a bench and get to this point where it says, "Sidewalk Closed."  

Well it's been closed a few times this year as heavy equipment has been making a new path to a spot across the bridge and to the right, where a new bridge will take the place of this old bridge.   

Below is a view from the cutoff on the north side.  The trail to the right is an exit to 56th (and Fairbanks).  To the left you can see the old bridge.  And straight ahead is the new bridge being put in place this summer.  The current trail curves around to the left (about where I'm taking the picture), past the erosion point (see below) and on to Taku Lake and beyond.  

                                                                                         Here's the detour map they've put up on the trail when the bridge was closed off.  It shows better where exactly this is.
The street to the north (above) is International Airport Road.  To the south is Dowling.  To the right is Old Seward.  I added the yellow circle so you could see just where these bridges are.  

NB = New Bridge;  OB = Old Bridge   The red line is the bike trail which follows along the creek.  [As I'm proofing this before posting, I see the white line for the new bridge is too long.  It just crosses the creek and doesn't go all the way to the trail as you'll see in pictures below.]

This was back on May 27, 2025 when they were clearing brush and just starting this year's work on the bridge.  From the south side.

Below is from the south again on June 23, 2025. 

And here's the bridge from the south on July 2, 2025.  Well, you can see the ramp up to the bridge.  The truck is blocking the view of the bridge itself.

Below is the bridge from the north on June 24, 2025

And then the same view on July 2, 2025, with the ramp in place.  

Below is where the creek is eroding the trail.  They added the sandbags recently.

And this is the old bridge from the south side.  Straight ahead is the bench I mentioned, though it's hard to see in the picture.  

I've been on this trail once or twice a week since late March/early /April (the snow and ice were gone early this year.)

There are a couple of guys there whose job is to deal with bikes and pedestrians when the bridge is blocked or when vehicles are crossing the trail.  

I asked, early on, what happens to the old bridge.  I was told it would be scrapped.  

So I'm posting this now, just in case anyone can use this old bridge somewhere.  Now would be the time to contact the Municipality and inquire about whether you can take the bridge, or buy it, and what it would take to do that.  Perhaps trying to move it would damage it.  But they moved the London Bridge to Arizona, so I would expect this would be a much easier job.

UPDATE:  As of about July 22, 2025 the new bridge is crossable, though not completely finished.  The old bridge is gone.  See new bridge post here.