Duluth Barrel Works owners Jon and Erin Otis are the subjects of a new profile story in The Growler magazine. The story details how Duluth Barrel Works buys, sells and repurposes solid oak barrels from wineries in California and bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. Jon converts some into rain barrels and breaks others down to create unique tables, benches, stools, candle holders and more.
Former Fitger’s Brewhouse master brewer and current Bev-Craft lead consultant Dave Hoops will open a beer hall in the Waterfront Plaza building in Duluth’s Canal Park business district. Hoops Brewing will occupy the former Timber Lodge Steakhouse space at 325 S. Lake Ave., opening in spring 2017.
“I’ve always wanted to build a boutique brewery and I’m doing this the way I dreamed of doing it,” Hoops told The Growler magazine, which broke the story before Hoops Brewing issued a news release. “I don’t have any aspirations of being real large. I want to be a destination beer hall, really servicing local, very limited distribution.”
The news release from Hoops Brewing notes the brewery will operate a small system geared toward serving the on-site 250-seat beer hall. In total, Hoops will occupy a 9,000-square-foot space inside a historic brick-and-exposed-timber space on the water’s edge of the Duluth Harbor.
The Waterfront Plaza, also known as the Meierhoff Building, was designed in two sections and constructed in 1900 as headquarters for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company, one of the world’s largest hardware wholesalers. In its prime, Marshall-Wells produced 40,000 products and had annual sales of nearly $100 million. The company liquidated in 1958 and the building sat vacant until the Meierhoff family bought it in 1966.
Hoops Brewing will share the first floor with Suites Hotel, which also occupies the second, third and fourth floors. The sixth floor and part of the seventh floor are condominiums. The Duluth branch of Barr Engineering occupies the fifth floor and parts of the seventh floor.
Prohibition has finally ended. Amity Coffee became the Lakeside neighborhood’s first seller of over-the-counter alcohol today. In June the Duluth City Council repealed a more than 125-year-old neighborhood liquor ban.
At left, barista Nate Pykkonen pours a Bent Hop Golden IPA, one of two Paddle Paddle Brewing tap beers at Amity. Bottled and canned beers are also available, as well as wine.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the Hermantown Zen House restaurant in the ICO convenience store at Maple Grove and Haines roads is moving to Duluth’s Woodland neighborhood. Zen House manager Joe Shortino told the paper ICO sold the property and the rumored buyer is Kwik Trip. An ICO official told the News Tribune a sale is pending, but would not disclose the buyer.
Zen House’s new location will be 4023 Woodland Ave. Sala Thai occupied that building before moving to 114 W. First St. in 2015.
Frank Kaszuba announced recently on Facebook he is leaving his position as head brewer at Fitger’s Brewhouse. His new employment is with Bev-Craft, a Superior-based consulting firm that helps new breweries by providing “development assistance, brewhouse planning, recipe formulation, ingredient selection, brand creation, and sales planning and assistance.”
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation division is inviting the public to comment on a revised draft of the St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail Master Plan. The plan seeks to recognize “one of the world’s largest freshwater estuaries as a premier paddle destination that targets a wide range of skill and interest levels,” according to a news release. “The rich history of this river as a significant waterway for Native Americans and Voyageurs and as a working river serving the twin ports of Duluth and Superior, combined with the expansive natural resources surrounding the estuary, provide a tremendous opportunity to showcase this amazing resource to the community.”
The draft plan was created during a nine-month planning process. It will be open for comment until Oct. 28. A revised plan will be presented to the Parks Commission on Nov. 9.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the Eckels family picnic at Lester Park today “included a visit from a bull moose that gave a few snorts and, at one point, passed within 20 feet of the group.”
This ballot shows races on the western side of Duluth. Depending on where you live you might see:
State Representative District 3B
Timothy Brandon, Republican
Mary Murphy, Democratic-Farmer-Labor
State Representative District 7A
Dylan C. Raddant, Republican
Jennifer Schultz, Democratic-Farmer-Labor
County Commissioner District 2
Patrick Boyle
Linda Ross Sellner
… and then of course the back side has the judicial races.
With the election cycle now in full swing, the League of Women Voters Duluth has published an online Voter Guide — a tool for voters to know who their regional and local candidates are and where they stand on issues.
This is the first time the LWV of Duluth has offered its Voter Guide electronically. The 76-page PDF offers perspectives from candidates in 10 races on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot:
United States Representative District 8
State Senate District 7
State Representative District 3B
State Representative District 7A
State Representative District 7B
County Commissioner District 2
County Commissioner District 3
Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice
Sixth Judicial District Court 13
Sixth Judicial District Court 15
As a teenager in Duluth, Robert Rowe Gilruth built model airplanes. Three decades later he would be a key player in NASA’s plans to put a man on the moon.
An article in the February issue of Air & Space magazine details how “without Bob Gilruth, there would not have been a Mercury, a Gemini, or an Apollo program.”
The Duluth News Tribune reports Tycoons Zenith Alehouse will close Oct. 17 and reopen Oct. 22 as the Blind Pig.
“The Blind Pig is going to be a gastropub and alehouse — higher quality but more casual,” Marissa Saurer told the DNT. She’s the marketing manager for Just Take Action, the company that owns the soon-to-be former Tycoons and future Blind Pig, along with Fitger’s Brewhouse and its Barrel Room, Endion Station and Burrito Union.
The Rathskeller, a second bar on the Michigan Street level of Tycoons, will not be affected by the change.
Duluth News Tribune: Blind Pig to replace Tycoons Alehouse
Kevin Evans, CEO of Duluth Whiskey Project LLC, is interested in opening a distillery at the former Franklin Foods facility on the 1900 block of West First St. in Duluth’s West End. The Duluth News Tribune reports the Duluth City Council could vote tonight on a resolution authorizing up to $50,000 for Barr Engineering Co. to conduct an environmental investigation of the former Arrowhead-Kemps dairy operation, which closed in 2013. The property is listed by Holappa Commercial Real Estate at $450,000.
A new loan program designed to spur the revitalization of older stock commercial buildings and create jobs in West Duluth and West End business districts is detailed in a brochure released by the city of Duluth and the Duluth 1200 Fund Board. The program is intended to help with commercial building acquisition or improvements in the form of a loan up to $50,000 with opportunity to have up to one half of the balance forgiven, assuming program requirements are met.
The maximum amount of the loans will range between $10,000 and $20,000 per job created, up to the $50,000 limit. The loans are only available for commercial buildings in the 55806 and 55807 zip codes. The buildings must be owner occupied (not leased) by a small business committed to creating two or more full-time equivalent jobs within two years. Further details are available in the brochure below.
With photos by Duluth’s Derek Montgomery.
Bob Collins reported this week for Minnesota Public Radio that “Duluth dodged Google’s fiber optic bullet.”
Six years after Duluth came up short in its bid to be a test community for ultra-high speed internet connections, the experiment is looking like an expensive boondoggle. After digging up a half-dozen cities to lay fiber-optic cables, the company is now shifting into plans to transmit fast internet through the air.
