R.I.P. Merritt Park Recreation Center Building

Paul Lundgren Nov 01, 2019 2 Comments

This week the field house at Merritt Park joined the growing list of historic West Duluth buildings demolished in recent years. The 2,016-square foot building was constructed in 1939.

The list of West Duluth structures biting the dust since 2012 includes Irving Recreation Center, West Duluth Fire and Police Station, Memorial Community Center, Lutheran Church of Christ the King, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Laura MacArthur Elementary School.

Below are photos of the Merritt building from Oct. 23, a week prior to demolition.

The final photo is the land formerly occupied by the hockey rink, with the parking lot in the foreground. The boards of the rink were taken down in September.

Recommended Links:

History, Photos, R.I.P. Merritt Park, West Duluth

2 Comments

Ramos

about 4 years ago



Here's a picture from the final performance to take place at Merritt Community Center: A magic show performed by John Ramos and Jacob Nelson, June 22, 2019.

Sad to see it was taken down. I've been going through the WPA Negative Collection at the Minnesota Historical Society's digital archive and found this really nice photo of what it looked like when new c. 1940 [MS2.9 DU8 r4 (Locator Number)]. Those were all glass block windows! Very much a product of the Moderne design spreading across the country at the time. I've been adding those that survive to a MN Modern Registry for the nonprofit Docomomo US MN that works to document and in some cases preserve modernist buildings. Too bad this one didn't make it.

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