James Grogan, representing the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry, asked the Wasilla Planning Commission during public participation on July 22 to support a proposed land swap with the Wasilla airport that would relocate the museum onto city‑owned property and make room for airport expansion.

Grogan described the museum’s offer: the museum would accept roughly 10 acres of city‑owned land at the airport in exchange for C‑21 (the depot area) and a brownfield parcel, and the museum would contribute $1.5 million toward moving and cleanup. "We would basically swap that land plus 1,500,000.0 so that we can move the museum over, clean up the Brown site," Grogan told the commission.

Why it matters: proponents said the swap would clean and redevelop a gravel/brownfield site, create a visible museum destination near downtown and the depot, support tourism and trolley connections, and free airport land needed for expansion. Grogan said the museum already holds building plans and a $95,000 building permit for an education facility and has substantial exhibits including a recently acquired fin whale and historic rail equipment.

Commission action: commissioners discussed the proposal later in the meeting during communications and unanimously voted to instruct the planning department to draft a resolution expressing the commission’s support for further negotiations and to place the matter on the agenda for the August 26 meeting (the commission noted the August 12 meeting would be canceled).

Next steps: the planning department will prepare a draft resolution for the commission’s review; commissioners noted the city council would ultimately need to review and approve any land‑disposition or transfer agreements.

Taper: commissioners said the swap could benefit both the museum and airport but asked staff to prepare formal language and background materials to review at the next scheduled meeting.