About Us

THE STRUCTURE: The Lathrop Building was built in 1932 by Fairbanks entrepreneur Captain Austin “Cap” Lathrop, known for his steel-reinforced concrete buildings--built to withstand earthquake and fire. Originally the building was divided into apartments, with Cap occupying the top fourth floor and business spaces on the main floor.

The Lathrop building has been home to an ice skating rink, the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, the office of Economic Development and flop houses, among many, many other things. The building shares a common wall with the buildings housing the UAF annex and the Ice Museum.

Lathrop Street and Lathrop High School were also named after Cap Lathrop. Read more about Captain Austin “Cap” Lathrop in this Time magazine article from 1939. Read more---

THE COMPANY: New Horizons Gallery Inc (aka Twin Falls) is the parent company of the Lathrop Building, which was established in 1979. The company has longstanding roots in the community and are constantly looking for ways to improve the building and enhance the downtown community.

THE PEOPLE: Jim and Jinx Whitaker are the owners of the New Horizons Gallery, Arctic Traveler's Gift Shop, ARC, and Twin Falls Inc. and are well-known members of the business community.

Jim and Jinx Whitaker have owned the Lathrop Building since 1991. They remodeled the building a few years later, making studio and office space.

Jinx's parents, George & Myra Lesko, started business over 30 years ago as the Paint Pot, which eventually grew into the New Horizons Gallery. Jim is currently serving his second term as borough mayor of Fairbanks.