The idea of this downtown plaza stemmed from a celebration of the silver anniversary of Alaska’s statehood in 1984. Through the work of Festival Fairbanks, Inc. ’84 Director, William R. Wood, the Fairbanks City Council supported the creation of the Golden Heart Plaza. Construction was completed in 1987 and funded by donations from Fairbanks citizens, families, businesses, and associations. The clock tower, donated by the Fairbanks Rotary Club in 1990, commemorates this organization’s first fifty years of service to Fairbanks and the Interior. In the summer, Golden Heart Plaza is filled with flowers of all colors. In the winter, the park is strung with twinkling white lights. Year-round it plays a central role in any downtown Fairbanks celebration. The statue is Malcolm Alexander’s “Unknown First Family,” which in his words is “Portraying the family of all mankind, the family of Fairbanks, and the nuclear family, let this statue symbolize, for families present and future, the pride and dignity of this great land.” A time capsule, to be opened January 3, 2059, is buried in the Plaza.
