Goldbelt, the urban Native corporation for Juneau, is aiming high with its proposed private cruise port on Douglas Island with facilities that include “skybikes” and treehouses, and docks capable of handling the increasingly larger ships arriving in town.

Those details and many more for the project — named Goldbelt Aaní — are detailed in an 82-page public notice of a permit application published July 28 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Goldbelt announced its proposed two-berth dock on property it owns along the northwest coast of Douglas Island last October, to the surprise of city officials who said they were unaware of the plans. Officials also said the company provided few details during subsequent months. 

The Army Corps notice focuses largely on Goldbelt Aaní’s specific facilities and infrastructure, plus environmental and other impacts that will need to be weighed in considering the application.

“The applicant’s stated purpose is to construct two cruise ship berths on Douglas Island that can safely accommodate a class of increasingly larger cruise ships docking in Southeast Alaska,” the notice states. “The proposed development also includes the onshore visitor attraction development and associated infrastructure necessary to support the cruise ship operations.”

Goldbelt Aaní is scheduled to be built in phases, with offshore development expected to take up to two years and onshore development up to five years, according to the notice. Goldbelt states its goal is to open the port for the 2028 cruise ship season.

Two floating cruise ship docks 500 feet long, with mooring dolphins extending out about 315 feet more from each end of both docks, are specified in the blueprints. The distance of roughly 1,130 feet between the mooring dolphins would be able to accommodate the largest ships currently visiting Juneau such as the 1,138-foot-long Ovation of the Seas, which can carry up to 4,900 passengers.

Goldbelt is proposing a multi-use harbor. In addition to the two cruise ship piers, it would include a small boat harbor, seaplane base and a fuel dock for vessels and planes.

Shore facilities listed in blueprints include a kayak center, theater, restaurant, shops, stalls, spa, treehouses and bungalows. A network of roads, trails and elevated boardwalks is planned to connect facilities.

A skybike attraction would consist “of a 2,300-foot-long cable loop suspended 30 to 50 feet above ground level between structural towers.”

Among the specifications for the skybikes — which essentially involve pedaling a well-secured bike along a chairlift-like installation — are “tower heights ranging from 20 to 80 feet depending on site topography,” with elevated viewing platforms along the ride.

Installation of infrastructure ranging from steel pilings for the docks to a wastewater treatment facility are listed in the plan, along with some details of how Goldbelt plans to address or mitigate impacts to the environment or cultural heritage sites.

Among the questions raised by city officials, residents and other is whether the two ships docking at Goldbelt Aaní will be counted as part of Juneau’s voluntary five-ship-a-day-limit agreement with the cruise industry. 

Goldbelt did not immediately respond to questions from the Independent seeking further details about the project. 

Numerous permit applications to city, state and federal agencies have not yet been submitted, according to the Army Corps notice.

The Army Corps “is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state and local agencies and officials; Indian tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.”