Construction of a new cruise ship dock near Hoonah is expected to begin next year.
Capital City Weekly reports Anchorage-based Turnagain Marine construction on Monday won the $23.7 million contract to design and build a 400-foot floating dock at Icy Strait Point, a southeast Alaska cruise ship destination.
Icy Strait Point is owned by Huna Totem Corp., the village Native corporation for Hoonah, a largely Tlingit community of about 765 people.
Corporation president and CEO Larry Gaffaney says construction likely will begin in the first quarter of 2015.
The move forward comes after years of debate over whether to locate the dock at Icy Strait Point or nearby Shaman Point.
The project is being funded through $14.4 million in state grants, with the rest paid by the corporation.
