News and Current Affairs
Interior designer expands into historic Lake Avenue building
Isola Design and Mavis Furniture principal and owner Jill Isola Johnson, holding her dog Pepper, stands with Assistant Designer Mireille Kidd, left, and intern Kyla Schulte in the new office furniture showroom.
An interior designer responsible for cutting-edge urban commercial properties like the Whole Foods Co-op and Canal Park Brewery is opening a new office furniture showroom in a historic Downtown Duluth building. (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2018 in Review
As we continue our giddy march toward summer, let’s look back at the headlines from May 2018. Test your current events knowledge with this month’s quiz!
The next Perfect Duluth Day Quiz will review PDD lore and legend in honor of the blog’s 15th birthday. It will be published on June 10. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by June 7. (more…)
Conceptual designs for new WWI Memorial in West Duluth
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation division has been working with community members to gather ideas for a new World War I memorial to be built in Memorial Park in West Duluth. After surveying the public and hosting public discussions, the city’s consultant has drafted three conceptual designs based on submitted feedback and is once again seeking public input on three concepts. (more…)
Lincoln Park Café opening at former Randy’s location
If all proceeds as planned, Lincoln Park Café could open in the former Randy’s Café location as soon as next week.
Mike Delich said he hopes to have everything in order by then to open the rebranded diner at 2125 W. Superior St. in Duluth. He has owned the building for 35 years and ran the restaurant for 10 years when it was called 21st Delight. (more…)
Opening in June: Corktown Deli and Brews
Jeff Petcoff and Conor Maki – Photo by Lissa Maki
Corktown Deli and Brews is busy prepping for an early June opening. The fast-casual eatery in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District is inspired by the iconic sandwich traditions of New York City. (more…)
Fitger’s Brewhouse wrangles beer distribution arrangement
Fitger’s Brewhouse owner Rod Raymond told Fox 21 News this week he is handing his company’s beer recipes over to his son, who will establish a separate enterprise to produce the products for distribution statewide. Brewhouse beers sold at Fitger’s Brewhouse and other establishments owned by parent company Just Take Action will continue to be brewed separately at Fitger’s as always.
Beau Raymond’s new entity will be called Bold Brewing and will sell the Duluth Brewhouse brand through the Duluth distribution company Bernick’s to liquor stores and restaurants. Fitger’s Brewhouse has been unable to legally distribute its product or produce more than 3,500 barrels per year because it is considered a brewpub under state law. (more…)
North Tower Stout wins bronze at World Beer Cup
The beards were polished and groomed at Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. last week. Earth Rider Brewery of Superior claimed a bronze award in the 2018 World Beer Cup, a global beer competition that evaluates beers from around the world.
Awards were given in 101 beer-style categories. Earth Rider award was in the Oatmeal Stout category for its North Tower Stout, an ale with malty accents of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit balanced with a restrained hop presence. (more…)
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Refinery
On April 26 at the Husky Energy Oil Refinery in Superior, public safety officials responding to a series of petroleum explosions that rocked the area were also concerned a tank holding 78,000 lbs. of hydrogen fluoride was going to explode. Being unfamiliar with this substance, perhaps as many of you were, I was compelled to explore the many wonders and uses of hydrogen fluoride. (more…)
Duluth on CBS Sunday Morning: “Bringing our towns back to life”
Duluth was featured prominently in a CBS Sunday Morning story today. Correspondent Lee Cowan visited Bent Paddle, Loll/Epicurean and Cirrus. (more…)
Island Lake Inn back in business with original owner
After four months of locked doors, the Island Lake Inn is back open for business, under new management. The well-known bar and grill, located about 12 miles north of Duluth in the Gnesen Township, announced its return Monday on Facebook. (more…)
Irving Park renovation work starts next week
Construction is ready to begin at Irving Park in West Duluth. A news release from the city’s Parks and Recreation division specifies May 7 as the date KTM Paving, Inc. will launch the first phase of a $1.1-million revitalization plan. (more…)
Joint Ops: Why Minnesota has two pro-marijuana parties
Minnesota taxpayers might have wondered, while gazing at the State Election Campaign Fund portion of form M1, why there are two political parties dedicated to marijuana legalization. Is there some subset of beliefs that divide the parties to the point where they can’t work together? Does one party want cannabis legalized in a different way than the other?
The answer is neither. (more…)
Iron Mug closing May 25
Iron Mug Coffee and Ale House in Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood will close May 25 according to a post made on the business’ Facebook page today:
As most of you know we have decided to make the hard decision to close our wonderful restaurant. We have enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people in Morgan Park as well as all the people that drove out to check our place out. I’m so glad that I got to witness and be part of all the new friendships that developed here because that really was what this place was all about. Again thank you for all the support these last four years.
Sound replaces executive chef, pares back music schedule
Chef Brian Udenberg
The new restaurant and music venue will also scale back its schedule of national musical acts to one or two per month, according to Cheryl Fosdick, Sound’s primary investor. Taking a cue from Minneapolis’ Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, the focus will be on genres complementary to a fine dining experience, such as folk, acoustic blues and jazz.
“The vision Chef Patrick had for the music had become larger than could be sustained at this time,” said Dennis Kempton, who handles public relations and marketing for Sound. Kempton noted the restaurant’s management is stepping back to refocus on the food and create a better balance with music that more fully aligns with its brand.
Sound is housed on the main level of 132 E. Superior St. in Duluth’s Old City Hall building. The establishment launched on Jan. 9 with a performance by G. Love. Touring acts like Dessa and Red Molly have also performed there, along with a number of local bands. Upcoming shows for May and June will feature the Bill Frisell trio and John McCutcheon, respectively. (more…)
Old Zelda Theatre gets another makeover
MPPL Financial President Scott Wallschlaeger stands outside 309 W. Superior St., the old Zelda Theatre building.
The NorShor isn’t the only historic theater seeing a new life in downtown Duluth.
MPPL Financial purchased the former Zelda Theatre in December and plans to move its operations from a historic bank building in Proctor to 309 W. Superior St. this summer. Renovations are underway both inside the heavily altered building and outside on Superior Street, where the city of Duluth recently launched a major road reconstruction project.
The building had been home to Peterson Anderson Flowers since the 1980s.
According to the website cinematreasures.org, the Zelda Theatre was constructed in 1914. It was designed by architects Wangenstein and Guliuson for owner W.M. Abrahamson, who named the building after a daughter. A University of Minnesota Duluth Kathryn A. Martin Library photo shows the building once boasted a marble facade, a grand second story archway and 15-foot high pillars framing the entrance.
“Unfortunately, almost nothing is left of the original building,” said MPPL president Scott Wallschlaeger. “It’s really a shame because the front of the building was amazing.”
According to the Duluth history website zenithcity.com, the theater closed in 1927, becoming the Zelda Inn and later Boyce Drug Store. (more…)
PDD Quiz: April 2018 in Review
April (and hopefully winter) is drawing to a close. How many of this month’s headlines do you remember? Test your smarts and quiz on!
The next PDD Quiz, on Duluthians and the movies, will be published on May 13. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by May 10. (more…)
Lake Superior Brewing takes on cans; brings back Mesabi Red
Lake Superior Brewing is poised to begin distributing its line of craft beers in cans.
“We’re using a mobile canning operation, Lagersmith, that will come and set up right here in our brewery,” the brewery’s co-owner Lisa Blade said in a news release. “Cans are lighter, won’t break and can be crushed for easy pack out — plus, it was a great opportunity to refresh the brand art. The Mesabi Red cans will feature a beautiful laker on Superior.”
The first beers to be in cans will be the brewery’s best seller, Kayak Kölsch, and the return of Mesabi Red Ale, available for the first time in five years.
An event is planned in the brewery’s taproom on May 4 at 4 p.m. where the public can watch the Wild Goose MWC-250 mobile-canning line in action.
Superior evacuation and Duluth advisory lifted
“I am lifting the evacuation order at 6 a.m. this morning,” Superior Mayor Jim Paine wrote on Facebook. “All indications are that the refinery site is safe and stable and the air quality is clean and normal. Welcome home.”
The city of Duluth has lifted last night’s precautionary shelter-in-place advisory for the western neighborhoods.
Superior refinery fire contained; precautionary advisory issued for residents of western Duluth as winds shift
Image via WDIO Eyewitness News
Around 6:45 p.m. the fire at Husky Energy’s oil refinery in Superior was contained. An evacuation of the area was ordered earlier today and remains in place. (more…)
Evacuation ordered as Superior refinery burns
At approximately 9:50 a.m. there was an explosion at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior. The initial fire was extinguished at 11:31 a.m., but a second fire erupted shortly after noon. The Duluth News Tribune reports there have been multiple explosions. An additional tank caught fire at 3:15 p.m.
All refinery personnel and contractors have been accounted for. There are no known fatalities. Conflicting reports indicate somewhere between six and 20 people injured.
Fox 21 News reports: “Five patients were taken to Essentia Health in Superior and five more to Essentia Health in Duluth. Of those five in Duluth, one person suffered a serious blast injury and the others had minor injuries. … Essentia Health–St. Mary’s Hospital in Superior was evacuated as a precaution and all Essentia facilities in Superior are closed because of the explosion.”
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation of the area due to the potential toxic nature of the smoke. Anyone located 10 miles south of the Husky Energy refinery, or three miles east or west, or one mile north, are asked to evacuate. The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center and Four Corners Elementary School are the mustering points for evacuees. Four Corners School is located at 4465 E. County Road B in the Town of Superior. (more…)
Earth Rider expands brewing capacity
Earth Rider Brewery in Superior is expanding its production capacity. Tomorrow morning two more large vessels, a 40BBL fermenter and 40BBL brite tank, will be installed. Another expansion is planned for late 2018. Earth Rider began brewing operations in September and intends to expand distribution to Two Harbors this week.
Charlie Parr has the “Best Song to Cry To”
This week’s issue of City Pages is the annual “Best of the Twin Cities” edition. It’s typical for one or two Duluth persons, places or things get a mention. This year it’s Charlie Parr, whose song “Sometimes I’m Alright” was named Best Song to Cry To. (more…)
Superior’s Empire Coffee to open this month
Evan Meyer and Aryana Buck – Photo by Lissa Maki
A new caffeination hub is set to open in Superior later this month. Empire Coffee will distinguish itself with its sheer variety of brews. (more…)
PDD Quiz: March 2018 in Review
As we near the end of the March doldrums, let’s take a look back at local (and local-adjacent) happenings that made headlines this month. Quiz on to see how closely you’ve been paying attention to current events!
The next PDD Quiz, on the geology of the Twin Ports, will be published on April 15. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by April 12. (more…)
The Ripple Bar on Lake Superior opens March 23
Maggie Gustafson – Photo by Lissa Maki
If all goes swimmingly, the Ripple Bar on Lake Superior will open on Friday at 3 p.m. A soft opening was held last night.
Margaret “Maggie” Gustafson is the new owner of the rebranded drinking establishment, formerly known as the Slip. The bar occupies a 900-square-foot space adjacent to Hoops Brewing at 325 S. Lake Ave. in Duluth’s Canal Park Business District. (more…)