Ester Community Association E.C.A. Fixtures The Rolland Hartung Community Hall has been part of Ester since the late 1950s thanks to the hard work of many ECA members and the kind permission and ultimate generosity of the Alaska Gold Company (and its predecessors, the Fairbanks Exploration Company and United States Smelting Refining & Mining, Inc.). Located where Ester Loop forks off from Main Street, the hall was named in 1986 for a longtime Ester resident who donated countless hours imporving and maintaining it. It features a fine hardwood floor, a powerful furnace, modern cooking facilities, a large deck, and Ester-style plumbing (including a lovely outhouse built by volunteers from the Ester Volunteer Fire Department). In 1991 the Alaska Gold Company donated the plot of land on which the building sits (after kindly permitting us to have used it all those years). Hartung Hall was once the true nerve center of the Ester area, serving as the polling place for local, state, and national electiosn. As the population of the area has grown, its size has lent itself better to meetings, workshops, art shows, and parties. It has hosted wedding receptions and wakes, religious services and bacchanalias, and could rightly be considered the heart of the Ester Community. Hall rental is to E.C.A. members only (non-members may be sponsored). The cost is $15. There is an additional fuel charge in winter. Contact: Ruth Jasper Our Well has been serving Ester residents for as long as anyone can remember—at least since 1937. It is centrally located, near the community hall, and is ideal for low volume water users. Modern upgrades and repairs were done in 1986 asssuring us of a dependable, safe source of water for years to come. Dues are $35 annually and are used to cover costs of heating, electric service, general maintenance, and water testing. Contact: Craig Buchanan "Cool, clear water (water)" The idea of the Ester Community Park was first conceived in 1982 by a small group of residents interested in reclaiming mining areas to provide a flat grassy area nearby for their children to play. With much appreciated assistance from the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the State of Alaska, land was acquired and volunteers proceeded to survey and design a multipurpose facility. Commencing in 1986, the ECA reclaimed five acres of gold mining claims and began construction. As is true with most Ester projects, however, the park could not have been built without the generous help of many area residents, businesses, and miners. The continued donations of materials, equipment time and professional expertise is the key to any community project’s success, and it is here that Ester excels. We have always believed in doing it ourselves and the Ester Community Park gives testimony to those efforts Facilities at the Ester Community Park include an athletic field (suitable for soccer, football, softball, kite-flying, frisbee, etc.), an ice-skating rink in winter, which is used for basketball, skateboarding, and bike riding in the summer, a playground (with future enhancements planned), outdoor sanitary facilities, and a picnic/barbecue area featuring a state-of-the-art timber framed shelter. The Ester Community Park has hosted weddings, memorial services, rock concerts, international soccer tournaments, youth athletic and firefighter training, music and art festivals, and benefit dinners. It is equally suited for holding cookouts for five, or picnics for 500. It is an all-purpose facility designed by area residents, and the crown of the Ester community. The Ester Community Association organizes an annual clean-up day at the park, and Special Project Work Parties are scheduled for major undertakings. Plans are in the works for many future improvements, and new input is always welcome. Got an idea? "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, The John Trigg Ester Library is a membership library sponsored by the ECA, John’s family, and The Ester Republic. It was begun in the summer of 1999 as the Ester Republic Reading Room and founded with a few boxes of dumpster-dived books. It was renamed in honor of John Trigg a year later in the fall of 2000. John was an avid storyteller and reader who had started a local book exchange years before, so it seemed fitting to the librarians that his name grace the local library. Local residents have donated thousands of books of every description, jigsaw puzzles, videos, and books on tape. New shelves were built in 2004 with donated wood and labor, to accomodate the expanding collection. They are full of wonderful books, just waiting to be read by young and old. Land was purchased in 2006 to build a new library building, as the new shelves are now overflowing! The library holds a monthly shelving party on the 26th to catch up with returns and new books. Volunteers and donations are always welcome! Membership is $5 per year and is separate from ECA membership. Have questions? "A library is an arsenal of liberty."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
