Following the 1964 Alaska earthquake , Hickel , as a show of confidence in Anchorage 's future , built a highrise luxury hotel on the western side of downtown Anchorage , very near one of the largest of the landslides , which befell portions of Anchorage . Hickel chose the site to prove wrong detractors , who believed that the area could not be redeveloped to a great extent . The nine-story Hotel Captain Cook opened in 1965 on Fourth Avenue , next door to the historic Wendler Building . A fifteen-story tower followed in 1972 , with an eighteen-story tower in 1978 . The hotel currently covers almost an entire city block , with a connected parking garage covering another half-block
1964 Alaska earthquake
1964 Alaska earthquake
Wally Hickel