News and Current Affairs
Updated concept plan for Lake Superior Zoo
Click the image to view a PDF of the full plan.
The latest concept plan for improvements to Fairmount Park and the Lake Superior Zoo was presented by a consultant last night at the Duluth Parks Commission meeting. The concept envisions a renewed zoo in a roughly 10-acre footprint that includes ADA accessible pathways, renewed and repurposed exhibits damaged by the 2012 flood, enhanced visitor services, and converts a portion of the existing zoo into public park space. The plan is estimated at $15 million and has $2.7 million of half-and-half funding allotted to it.
Comments can be submitted to Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division until Feb. 15 to allow the consultants to analyze them for the upcoming Feb. 22 presentation and public hearing at 5:15 p.m. in the Duluth City Council Chambers, to be followed by a Parks Commission public hearing in room 303.
Northern Waters restaurant open on Woodland Avenue
Fans of all things cured and smoked will rejoice in knowing Northern Waters Smokehaus has opened its much-anticipated Woodland Avenue location in the Chester Park – UMD neighborhood. While the new restaurant offers some familiar lunch items from the Smokehaus, the menu is more expansive and includes alcoholic beverages. (more…)
Epicurean and Loll represent Duluth in The Atlantic
In the March issue of The Atlantic, James Fallows once more talks up Duluth while town-hopping across the country, this time as an example of “hopeless” places reinventing themselves (full article). Scroll down to the subheading “Despite the ‘Big Short,’ Talent Dispersal is Under Way,” where he uses Epicurean/Loll to illustrate the same kind of deliberate migration that Lucie Amundsen so elegantly described in her Saturday essay.
Blacklist brewery expanding to downtown Duluth
Jon Loss, Brian Schanzenbach and TJ Estabrook, the partners behind Blacklist Artisan Ales
One of the smaller Twin Ports breweries, Blacklist Artisan Ales, is earning big media attention this week after its announced expansion into the building that previously housed the infamous Last Place on Earth head shop. (more…)
PDD Quiz: January 2016
Since next week is the Super Bowl, our theme will be football in Duluth, so expect some Duluth Eskimo trivia. Send your suggested quiz questions (and answers) to lawrence @ perfectduluthday.com by noon on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
Spirit Mountain Winter Downhill Fatbiking
Last weekend Spirit Mountain became (as far as we know) the first ski resort in North America to offer lift access fat-tire biking. Break out the fatbikes this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and come ride with us!
Video by Max Fierek.
Bent Paddle Double Black 750s will hit liquor stores soon
Bent Paddle Brewing announced Wednesday its Barrel-Aged Double Shot Double Black Ale will be released in 750-milliliter bottles “in a couple weeks.” The beer is a stronger version of the brewery’s Cold Press Black Ale, “aged in bourbon oak for nearly 15 months … with a ‘double shot’ of cold-press coffee and whole-bean Madagascar vanilla.”
Bringing it All Back to Duluth Does Dylan
A new Duluth Does Dylan album is in the works — the fourth in a series of compilations featuring Duluth bands covering Bob Dylan songs. Bringing it All Back to Duluth Does Dylan will feature 14 tracks recorded at Sacred Heart Studio by engineer Tom Fabjance. Fabjance is co-producing the album with executive producer Tim Nelson. (more…)
Sunshine Café reopening after owner’s recovery from injury
Sunshine Café, a 30-year-old West Duluth restaurant known for its affordable, tasty breakfasts and cheery atmosphere, will reopen Thursday after a five-month hiatus.
Owners Young-a and Steven Clement closed their café at 5719 Grand Avenue in August when Steven fell two stories from a ladder while cleaning the gutters on his home. He was in intensive care for a month and has been recovering ever since. He fractured ribs and vertebrae, damaged the orbital bone in his eye and sustained a nasty head wound. (more…)
A.G. Thomson House named Best in the Nation, again
Duluth’s A.G. Thomson House has been named the Best Bed and Breakfast in the United States by Trip Advisor for 2016. The inn was also named one of the 10 best in the world.
The Thomson House placed #1 of over 17,000 B&Bs across America. It also received the first-place award in 2012.
Lake Superior Zoo Proposed Concepts
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division has invited the public to view and comment on three proposed concept plans for improvements to the Lake Superior Zoo and Fairmount Park. The plans were presented by a consultant at the Jan. 19 Duluth Parks Commission Open House. (more…)
OMC Smokehouse anticipates November opening
Duluth Grill owner Tom Hanson stands in the gutted 1886 structure that will house his next restaurant venture.
If all goes as planned, the nascent commercial stretch of the Lincoln Park neighborhood — home to Bent Paddle Brewing, Damage Boardshop and Frost River Trading — will gain a distinctive new restaurant before the end of 2016.
OMC Smokehouse is Duluth Grill owner Tom Hanson’s latest project. OMC stands for oink, moo, cluck. The aptly named eatery will cater to carnivores with its smoked meats and cured sausages, but Hanson promises there will be menu items aimed at vegetarians, too. (more…)
PDD Quiz: 2015 Year in Review
Photo by Judy Weber
[This quiz was embedded from a platform that is no longer available.]
Ness will launch economic development business
Outgoing Duluth Mayor Don Ness announced at a news conference today he will launch a new business called Hillside Ventures. The Duluth News Tribune reports Ness will offer his services to assist clients with economic development and “public-sector strategy work, working with other communities in the region, especially on the problem-solving and visioning piece.” (more…)
Glensheen set to hit 100,000 attendance mark for 2015
From the Glensheen Facebook page:
This Saturday we will reach over 100,000 visitors for the first time since the 1980s.
To put this in perspective, we had only 56,000 visitors in recent history. Many thought this resurgence would not be possible. We are very thankful to all who have helped us turn the curve, especially you our guests.
Bonnie the wild bobcat trapped at the DECC
From Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay’s Facebook page:
When I heard about a man in a mental health crisis looking for a bobcat in downtown skywalks and in the convention center I knew it wasn’t true. Then I saw these pictures. You can’t make this stuff up … nobody knows how this wild animal made it into the convention center. It was trapped by the DNR and Wildwoods inside the convention center.
Drone crashes behind skier. Safety first!
A multirotor drone crashed on live TV behind skier Marcel Hirscher in a slalom event on Tuesday. It shattered on the icy slope a few seconds after the Olympic silver medalist started his second run. (more…)
Senator Al Franken roasts Duluth Mayor Don Ness
Duluth Mayor Don Ness held his “Final Mayoral Address and Concert Celebration” at the DECC’s Symphony Hall on Dec. 16. Senator Al Franken was not able to attend, but sent this video in order to, “once and for all tell Don what I really think about him.”
Duluth Pack on Minnesota Bound
[The video originally embedded in this post is no longer embeddable and can only be viewed directly on YouTube.]
Duluth Pack was featured on Minnesota Bound last week in their Minnesota Bound Classic segment at the end of the show. Check it out.
Cross City Trail Master Plan
Interested in connecting the Lakewalk with the Munger Trail? Now is the time to give your thoughts on which route or combination of routes you like for the West Duluth segment. The city has four routes for you to comment on. Visit the Cross City Trail website and take the survey.
The Trails/Parks Committee of the River Corridor Coalition has videos of the entire river route broken into seven segments, along with an interactive map to help identify where the segments are. Visit crosscitytrailduluth.com to check it out. This is the lesser known route that is harder to find and understand, so be sure to check it out.
The city wants your input, so go to the survey and participate. This is a regionally significant trail connection, connecting two great state trails, the Munger Trail and Gitchi-Gami Trail. When all is complete you can go from Hinckley to the Canadian border.
“Holy Night”
As Duluth weighs the pros and cons of allowing people to keep small farm animals within city limits, I thought it would be appropriate to share this recording. Just think … you could wake up some frosty winter night and be serenaded by your neighbor’s singing goats.
Toasty’s Downtown Duluth location open
The Duluth News Tribune reports Tom and Rachael Hagen opened their second Toasty’s Grilled Cheese Shop on Dec. 11. The new location at 220 W. Superior St. is best known as the former home of Mr. Nick’s Famous Charburger and the short-term location of seven different failed restaurants since 2002. The Downtown Toasty’s will be open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 pm., offering a similar menu to the Hillside location — sandwiches, soups and salads.
Story link: Toasty’s opens new downtown Duluth location
Closed without a peep
Somehow, I missed this.
Lark o’ the Lake Ice Cream Coffee Café open in Greysolon Plaza
The Duluth News Tribune reports the new Lark o’ the Lake Café opened in the Greysolon Plaza on Nov. 27. Owners are Sandra Ettestad, Mark Marino and Don Monaco.
“The menu includes coffee and espresso drinks, smoothies, pastries, deli sandwiches, soups, salads and old-fashioned ice cream desserts,” the DNT article notes. “Prices are affordable, with most lunches less than $10. The cafe has Wi-Fi and is close to getting a wine and beer license.”
Duluth News Tribune: Lark Café opens at Greysolon Plaza in Duluth with a focus on aviation