Mark Nicklawske, Author at Perfect Duluth Day

Live STEAM! Brothers Burn Mountain roast Sacred Heart stage

Jul 19, 2020 No Comments

The Brothers Burn Mountain landed the hottest, steamiest, most oppressive weather of the summer to torch the Sacred Heart Music Center altar stage with their patented end-of-the-show drum breakdown.

Note: 19th Century cathedrals were not equipped with air-conditioning.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, sound engineer Eric Swanson and video director Rich Narum were the only people on hand to capture the July 18 scorcher.

Watch with an ice cold beverage in hand.

Kitchi Gammi Club improves its Lake Superior view

Jun 25, 2020 1 Comment

Work has started on a new entrance and east lawn improvements at the Kitchi Gammi Club on Superior Street. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

The historic Kitchi Gammi Club is improving its front yard.

The 106-year-old landmark clubhouse at 831 E. Superior St. is undergoing an entrance upgrade that includes plans to improve an east lawn overlooking Lake Superior. The two-phase, $500,000 project broke ground in May.

Congdon Park’s historic Millen mansion gets needed overhaul

May 28, 2020 3 Comments

Tom Buresh and his terrier-dachshund mix, Evealine, pose on a hill outside the historic Millen mansion on Vermilion Road. Buresh and his wife Debra purchased the home in October 2017 and are restoring the property. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).

Tom Buresh likes to say that shortly after he bought one of the most glorious and historic mansions in Duluth a neighbor told him it came with 40 years of deferred maintenance.

Iconic Jade Fountain will see new life in West Duluth

Mar 27, 2020 No Comments

Kai Soderberg stands outside the Jade Fountain restaurant at 305 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth. Soderberg is leasing the space where he will open a tiki bar this summer. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A long-running and largely unchanged Chinese restaurant — which closed for almost five years — will be reborn under new ownership as a tiki lounge when nightlife returns to normal in Duluth.

Lofts planned for historic Lincoln Park furniture building

Feb 25, 2020 3 Comments

The building on the corner of 19th Avenue West and Superior Street was home to six different furniture stores during a 120-year span. New owners plan to remodel it for upper-level apartments and street-level retail shops.

A $6 million apartment project has been announced for a former furniture store in the booming Lincoln Park Craft District, the third of three massive neighborhood furniture stores to undergo changes in the past year.

Former plasma center building in Lincoln Park finds new life

Feb 20, 2020 No Comments

East West Property Management principals Alex Rogers, left, and Frank Rush have moved their company headquarters to Lincoln Park. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A Lincoln Park building that housed a plasma donation center for almost three decades is now home to a growing Duluth area property management company.

Former Franklin Foods facility in Lincoln Park sold, eyed for possible hotel or apartment development

Jan 28, 2020 1 Comment

Property on the 1900 block of West First Street that once served as a milk processing facility could soon be redeveloped. It shares an alley with popular new enterprises in the Lincoln Park Craft District such as Flora North, Hemlock Leatherworks, Duluth Folk School, OMC Smokehouse, the Noble Pour and Duluth Tap Exchange.

A national hotel and apartment builder has purchased a large, blighted property inside the trendy, fast-growing Lincoln Park Craft District.

Northridge Accommodations LLC purchased the former Kemps dairy at 1928 W. First St. on Dec. 30. According to Minnesota Department of Revenue records, Franklin Foods sold the property — advertised as the largest contiguous site available in Lincoln Park — for $450,000.

Duluth Tap Exchange brings self-serve brews to Lincoln Park

Dec 03, 2019 6 Comments

The Duluth Beer Exchange will feature 40 self-serve taps offering beer, wine, cider and other beverages. The space is expected to open in December.

Beer and wine lovers will fill their own glass in a new, high-tech Lincoln Park drinking establishment scheduled to open this winter.

MnDOT scales back Can of Worms project

Nov 23, 2019 No Comments

The Minnesota Department of Transportation plans to announce two dramatic reductions to the $343-million Twin Ports Interchange project on Monday. The changes will directly affect the Lincoln Park business district, shown here in 2018. (Photo by Liftoff Aerials)

State officials will announce dramatic reductions in a major state highway project that was intended to improve driver safety, traffic flow and heavy load shipments through the heart of Duluth.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will defer two critical pieces of its $343-million Twin Ports Interchange project due to increasing construction costs, officials told a Lincoln Park business group Thursday. A formal announcement and two public meetings are planned for Nov. 25.

Quirky vintage store will replace iconic Carr’s Hobby Shop

Oct 12, 2019 3 Comments

Beth Petrowske, left, and Jack Carr pose inside Carr’s Hobby Shop in Lincoln Park. Petrowske is buying the hobby shop building and will convert it to Boathouse Treats & Treasures.

A new store featuring a quirky assortment of vintage clothes, rare collectibles and usable curios will replace one of the oldest and most storied businesses in Lincoln Park early next year.

The Noble Pour cocktail lounge planned for Lincoln Park

Sep 21, 2019 No Comments

Duluth Grill owner Tom Hanson stands behind the bar at the Noble Pour, a new lounge he is developing at 1907 W. Superior St. Hanson purchased the bar from the now-closed Red Herring Lounge.

A new Lincoln Park night spot will feature an artifact from the recently closed Red Herring Lounge, a well-loved but short-lived downtown Duluth music venue.

Duluth sees its first ‘virtual restaurant’ with Bowls to Go

Sep 16, 2019 No Comments

Restaurant developer Rick Lampton shows off the 310 Pub kitchen in Duluth where Bowls to Go menu items are prepared. Lampton and his partners own the 310 Pub, 7 West Taphouse and Grizzly’s Wood-Fired Grill.

A new Duluth restaurant is going without wait staff, tables, even walls because its fresh, hot food is delivered wherever hungry customers want to eat.

News and Current Affairs, Restaurants

West Duluth bar scene adding Boreal House

Aug 18, 2019 5 Comments

Katie Fast, left, and Julie LaTourelle stand outside 330 N. 57th Ave. W. The two women purchased the former home of RJ’s Coffee Den and plan to open a new bar in West Duluth. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

Two women plan to open a new bar later this fall in a West Duluth neighborhood that boasts some of the oldest drinking establishments in the city.

Katie Fast and Julie LaTourelle, operating as K & J Industries LLC, recently purchased the former RJ’s Coffee Den at 330 N. 57th Ave. W. The century-old building is being remodeled and is expected to reopen as the Boreal House in late November.

Lakeside donut shop plan hits snag

Jul 13, 2019 No Comments

A Dozen Excuses owner Melissa Kingren serves up fresh sweet rolls at her Tower Avenue bakery in Superior.

A Superior bakery saw its plans to open a satellite shop in Duluth derail last month but owners are still looking for a place to bring donuts back to Lakeside.

At Sara’s Table expands kitchen, adds second floor

Jun 27, 2019 No Comments

At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe is expanding its kitchen and adding a second story to its building at 1902 E. Eighth St.

Brunch has become so big at a Duluth farm-to-table restaurant that owners are building an addition to help cooks keep up with the French toast and omelette orders.

At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe owner Carla Blumberg said a construction project started this spring will expand the kitchen, add new bathrooms and offer a newly created second floor space with dramatic Lake Superior views. The restaurant was established in 2002 at the corner of Eighth Street and 19th Avenue East on the former Taran’s Food Market site.

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