Historic Structure Reports: Meyer Building & YMCA Gymnasium, Skagway Historic District and White Pass National Historic Landmark
Staff. 2013. Historic Structure Reports: Meyer Building & YMCA Gymnasium, Skagway Historic District and White Pass National Historic Landmark. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
This publication contains two individual Historic Structure Reports in their entirety: the Meyer Building and the YMCA Gymnasium, both part of the Skagway Historic District and White Pass National Historic Landmark in Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The reports document the existing fabric and condition of the structures and presents preservation treatment recommendations, based on the condition assessment and Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) conducted in summer of 2010 and in compliance with National Park Service guidelines and standards. The Meyer Building was constructed in 1899 for use as a meat market. It also housed a shoe store and a telephone company. Herman Meyer, an important figure in Skagway's economic success during the gold rush years, operated the meat market and the Arctic Telephone Company. There is also evidence that a museum was located in the Meyer Building in the mid-1920s. The recommended treatment is rehabilitation. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) came to Alaska with the Klondike stampeders. A successful membership drive in 1900 created the desire to expand the YMCA facilities to include a gymnasium. Fundraising and construction began in early 1900, and the gym opened in July 1900. It closed in November 1901, citing only 55 members. Herman Meyer purchased the gymnasium in 1902, and he sold the meat company to the Carstens Brothers. Sometime between 1903 and 1905, they moved the YMCA gymnasium building to the property south of the meat market and connected it to the Meyer Building. The gymnasium was later purchased by George Rapuzzi and used for a garage and storage. The recommended treatment is restoration of the exterior to the 1900-1901 gymnasium appearance and rehabilitation of the interior for visible curatorial storage.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Staff
- Date of Issue
- 2013-09
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- AKR , KLGO
- Keywords
- Arctic Meat Company, artifact collection, Brown Shoe Company, business, Carstens Brothers, company, George Rapuzzi, gold rush, Herman Meyer, meat market, moved, moved building, museum of '98, National Historic Landmark, shoe store, streetscape, telephone company
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 783230: Meyer Building , CRIS-HS: 783208: YMCA Gymnasium