The Capital Civic Center is pleased to announce today that it has received a gift of $100,000 from long-time Juneauite Marsha Erwin Bennett.
Ms Bennett, who now lives in Ashland, OR, grew up in Juneau. Her parents, Vivian and Marshall Erwin, owned and operated Erwin’s Supermarket, Erwin’s Glacier Village IGA, and Case Lot Grocery. She carried on the tradition, owning retail stores here until the 1990’s. She has written a wonderful book, Pioneer Grocers of Alaska, telling the stories of many of Juneau’s stores, told by their owners or employees, about a time before Statehood when groceries were delivered, few homes had cars, many lived up long flights of stairs. Some of these stores continued past Statehood in 1959 to the end of the century and beyond. With a M.A. in Sociology, Ms Bennett is interested in communities and how they have evolved over the years and has written extensively on the topic. Her volunteer work and support for many local organizations over the years added much to Juneau’s current vitality.
Her love for her home town and state is evidenced by this gift.
“Marsha Erwin Bennett’s family businesses made a huge impact on Juneau over the decades. My family loved shopping at Erwin’s at the Airport Shopping Mall! We are so pleased that the Capital Civic Center is part of their legacy. Community builders like her and her family, made Juneau what it is, and will help to keep Juneau thriving for years to come.
This gift comes at a very important point as we close in on meeting our National Endowment for the Humanities match for a $750,000 grant. We are so grateful to her for her vision for the future and this very generous gift to our town.”
Nancy DeCherney, The Partnership Fundraising Manager
About the Capital Civic Center
As a public/private partnership, the Capital Civic Center is designed to make the most of Juneau’s existing community assets. This landmark arts center will be devoted to live and recorded performance, exhibits, gatherings, celebrations, work and creativity. The Capital Civic Center will house performance and gallery space, meeting rooms, offices for arts and cultural groups and a café, expanding and augmenting Centennial Hall.
Located near the Walter Soboleff Center, Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall and Andrew P. Kashevaroff (SLAM) building, the new venue will provide Juneau with a centralized gathering space for Alaska’s capital city. For more information visit capitalciviccenter.org.
Help us finish our match by making a gift today:
Give directly to the Capital Civic Center or to the Capital Civic Center Fund at the Juneau Community Foundation. Consider joining the 130 community members who are Groundbreakers by pledging $10,000 with an initial gift of $1000 and the balance paid over a period of years.