The Begich Towers Incorporated

A common sight at the entrance to Whittier is of people who missed the last crossing sleeping in their cars. Many residents own T-shirts that say "POW." Prisoner of Whittier, that is.

The thing is, Whittierites never have to take the tunnel if they don't want to, even though the tiny southwest Alaska town is severed from the outside world in so many ways. It snows 22 feet a year here, more than 1,000 times the normal national average (OK, Boston this past winter doesn't count).

Residents don't even have to leave the building they live in if they don't want to.

That's because Whittier, including its hospital, school and city government, functions within one self-sufficient structure: a Cold War behemoth that seems better suited to a city like Newark (no offense to Jersey).

The 14-story Begich Towers Incorporated, known around these parts simply as BTI, is probably the last thing you'd expect to see in an outpost as remote as this.

It soars skyward, rudely interrupting the surrounding National Geographic landscape of glaciers and Prince William Sound. BTI withstands six months of rain every year, followed by six months of snow and howling 80 mph winds. It was built to survive bombings, after all.

begich towers alaska


Inside, BTI feels like any massive condo complex in a big city, except that when you step outside in the winter, there are few places to go and no one to see.

Rush-hour commute in Whittier means a stop on every floor on the elevator. It means that even when it's freezing, city employees like Jennifer Rogers can go to work in sandals that show off her red-lacquered nails. She doesn't even have to take her three kids to school; they take the elevator to the basement and run down a bunker-like underground passage that connects BTI to the Whittier Community School.

Rumor has it that some folks have not stepped outside BTI for weeks, months and maybe even years.


Read More: 
https://sometimes-interesting.com/begich-towers-alaskan-town-in-tower
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2015/07/us/whittier-alaska-american-story/

Location: Begich Towers, Kenai St, Whittier, AK 99693, USA

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