Updated 11 a.m., Oct. 9
Rear Admiral Matthew T. Bell will participate in a public ceremony at 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 9, formally recognizing Cordova as a Coast Guard City. Although the city was awarded the designation in September 2019, a formal ceremony was delayed when visiting officials’ travel plans were stymied, first by severe weather and then by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m pretty excited,” Mayor Clay Koplin said. “It literally takes an act of Congress to be declared a U.S. Coast Guard city, and it’s a very high standard.”
At the Oct. 9 ceremony, Bell will present Koplin and Native Village of Eyak Tribal Chair Darrel Olsen with the honorary designation at the flagpoles outside the Cordova Center. A sign and plaque recognizing Cordova’s Coast Guard City designation were previously installed at the Cordova Center.
Congress has bestowed the designation upon only 28 U.S. cities, in recognition of their special importance to the Coast Guard. Ketchikan, Kodiak and Sitka are also Coast Guard Cities. Community members seeking more information on the Oct. 9 event can contact City Manager Helen Howarth at 907-424-6200.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, canceled a Friday, Oct 9-Sunday, Oct. 11 visit to Cordova that would have included participation in the Coast Guard ceremony, officials said.
