A new theater attraction may be coming to South Franklin Street in downtown Juneau in 2028. The ambitious project proposes a venue next to the downtown library that will house three immersive theater experiences. Spearheaded by local Juneau resident and State Farm insurance agent Reuben Willis, the project is being created in partnership with Malvern Entertainment, a media licensing and attraction development company.
“My family just fell in love with the Soaring Over California ride, they kept wanting to go back and do it over and over again,” Reuben said of a 2017 trip with his six children to Disneyland. “About the third time that we were smelling orange blossoms flying over a grove of orange trees, which didn’t provide much visually, I thought: ‘Man, Alaska has so many cooler things that we could share.’”
He began looking into the current proposed location on South Franklin Street, on the lot where the Juneau Cold Storage facility burnt down in the 1980s. The gravel lot has been an eyesore for years in the center of downtown Juneau, sitting mostly empty with intermittent pop-up food and retail operations few and far between. A few years ago, there were proposals to create what was going to be the Juneau Waterfront Archipelago: a proposed public waterfront plaza and park in that space that never came to fruition.
Earlier this year, however, Willis purchased the lot and a Conditional Use Permit was approved for Finn’s Adventure by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) Planning Committee. To accommodate the theater, a Non-Administrative Variance was granted to extend the Waterfront Commercial height limit from 35-feet to 38-feet, and from 35-feet to 54-feet for an area of 5,800-square-feet to accommodate the flying theatre. The height variance was approved under the condition that public views of Crystal Worl’s Elizabeth Peratrovich mural are preserved. According to the Finn’s Alaska website, it will take less than an hour to experience all three attractions and will have the capacity to serve 5,000 guests per day.
The planned attractions include a “Flying Over Alaska” flying theater, the “Glacier Dive” submersible simulator, and “The Great Salmon Run” 4D theater.
“One of the films that we are doing (for Finn’s Alaska had) a $14 to $15 million budget, shot in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest with the BBC,” said Mark Cornell, CEO of Malvern Entertainment. Shots from this were cut into a 14-minute experience that features narration by Sir David Attenborough.
Cornell’s Malvern Entertainment has worked to create entertainment experiences with intellectual properties like SpongeBob, Marvel and DC Comics through partnerships with studios like Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Disney around the world.
“We were able to use these huge (intellectual properties) (…) and bring them to life cinematically with either moving seats or 4D special effects theaters (…) where we could take people on a journey,” Cornell said. His work eventually led him to create attraction experiences in partnership with destinations like the Georgia Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, and Bronx Zoo where entertainment began to meet the larger missions of these spaces. Now, he says, everything he’s done in his career has brought him to Juneau.
With $16 million already raised, and just $4 million left to reach their goal, Willis has committed to financing the project through local involvement as much as possible. So far, no investments have been received from either cruise ship corporations or native corporations.
“We want to be a venue that attracts and draws people to downtown and continues to bring vibrance and life to downtown, even in the non-tourist summer season,” said Willis. In a March CBJ Planning Commission meeting, Erin Willis, Reuben’s wife, outlined plans for how the venue will serve the visitor economy from May to September and local Juneau Residents from October through April. During the off season, the meeting minutes say Erin “noted they will offer deeply discounted local admissions, sponsored school visits, locals appreciation weekends, and provide their large foyer space for nonprofit fundraisers, legislative receptions, youth celebrations, and community gatherings in the off season. She added the 4D theater space can host lectures, movies, and musical events.”
Named Finn’s Alaska, after Willis’ family Alaskan Malamute Finn who was rescued from an overseas meat trade industry, Willis has partnered with Juneau Animal Rescue as a way to honor his story.
“(Guests) can round up their purchases and that’s going to go to Finn’s Friends Foundation, which will be a nonprofit that will fund Juneau Animal Rescue and the rescue where he was rescued from,” said Willis. “We just feel that’s a real sweet way to remember Finn, our unique dog.”
Recorded public testimony so far has been positive, however, concerns are not entirely at bay regarding this project. Some residents are meeting the project with hesitation, questioning if an indoor virtual reality experience like this really provides a meaningful Juneau experience – a place renowned for its wilderness.
Community and tourism reform activist Karla Hart says this type of infrastructure indicates a destination is over-touristed.
“You don’t see these types of experiences or attractions at destinations that are not suffering from over tourism,” Hart said. “When you’re building a theater to take people out of nature, which is arguably one of our best attractions, to watch movies it is indicative that we have too many cruise ship passengers coming to Juneau.”
Having visited similar theater experiences like Seattle’s “Wings Over Washington” and Vancouver’s “Flyover,” Hart is a fan of what these immersive experiences can be. After a trip to Oslo, during which she experienced a similar venue offering a simulation of being on an Olympic downhill ski run, she even wondered if there was a way to perhaps use an experience like this to provide a more financially and physically accessible experience of the Juneau Icefield that could decrease frequency of loud, invasive, and polluting helicopter tours.
“I was really surprised at what they chose to feature, because it seems like flying over the Juneau Ice Field is about as thrilling as you can get,” Hart said of Finn’s Alaska, wishing the proposed experiences could work to offset the impact of cruise ship tourism by giving visitors experiences that are Juneau-centric and would nix the need for expensive excursions into fragile ecosystems.
Of the media selected to be featured at the venue, it’s generalized to all of Alaska and the region’s far-reaching temperate rainforest rather than being Juneau-specific.
“The movies that they’re claiming that they’re going to be sharing on their website aren’t about Juneau. They’re doing one that’s a statewide video, one that (is basically about the deep sea), and then a third that’s about salmon runs that looks like McNeil Falls or Brooks Camp or something,” Hart said.
Hart mentioned Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure as a counter example that she says is a great example of an excursion that is local, low-key, and provides a quality on-site experience that is Juneau-centric and truly one-of-a-kind. Concerns about a disconnect between this theater’s closed environment and the easily accessible wilderness in Juneau is not unique to Hart, with other residents expressing confusion and vague disappointment.
“If you watch the evolution of these developments, the next thing that we’re going to get is one of those giant Ferris wheel things on the waterfront. It’s what happens with kitschy tourism development,” Hart said. “I don’t see that it’s going to solve anything about over tourism for the community, or really enhance the Alaska experience for the cruise ship passengers, they could watch a movie on the cruise ship, or at home, they don’t need to be here for that.”
Amidst these concerns, the project is moving forward and a big sign has been posted in the lot indicating the venue to come. The conditional use permit was unanimously approved by the CBJ assembly and Willis and Cornell are excited for what is to come.
“We have moved beyond the conceptual phase,” says Willis. “The construction plans are in their final iteration. Dawson Construction has been selected as our contractor and equipment financing has been approved.”
In order to be open in 2028, they need to finalize the last $4 million of investment. Their current timeline calls for funds to be secured by the end August and foundations for the structure to go in by October of this year.
“We would complete the structure, and then we would start installing rides in late October next year,” Willis says, “and then do some soft openings for the community to make sure that we have operations down (for) guests in May of 2028.”
Rachel Levy is a Juneau-based photojournalist whose work culminates at the intersections of environmental justice, arts and culture, and sustainable tourism. A 2022 graduate of Harvard University's Environmental Policy program, she is also the director of the award-winning documentary "Hidden in Plain Sight" that exposes the labor exploitation and colonial framework burdening Tanzania's safari industry.
