Just for fun, here's an older, undated photo from the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center.



Again, both of these photos are of the Central Avenue entrance, not the 56th Avenue West one. And that's Ely Elementary School on the right, the predecessor of MacArthur.

The land will be green space for the foreseeable future, but the long-term plan is to turn it into an athletic field, if/when funding allows.

Chris, that photo is indeed of the Central Avenue entrance. Here's a shot from the 1940s or 1950s of the same entrance, courtesy of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center.

Roger Nesje has come through with what must be late 1980s photos of the 56th Avenue West entrance, which shows "MacArthur West" above the entrance before the elevator was added.





The "Robert E. Denfeld" carving is still there in these shots; the MacArthur sign is over it. Was that whole entrance ripped up when the addition was built, or could the Denfeld carving still be there, hiding under some drywall or something?

So we know that ...

* Both entrances had Denfeld engravings originally.

* The 56th Ave. W. entrance still had one as of 1994, though it was in rough shape (thanks Andrew)!

What we don't know is whether the engravings still exist somewhere, either under the building alterations or somewhere else. And it seems more likely that the 56th Ave. W. one might still be part of the building than the Central Avenue one. So we're getting somewhere.

Here's the word from Kerry Leider, property and risk manager for Duluth Public Schools:

Bob Swanson, local stone salvage expert, investigated the Laura Mac building to try to determine if any of the Robert E. Denfeld stone plaques were still on the building hidden by additions. Bob's investigation concluded these no longer exist.
 
I will notify the demolition contractor, once identified, to make them aware of the potential this name stone is still in place and request if they are in fact discovered during demolition they offer us a proposal to salvage them and turn them over to the district.

By the way, demolition of the old MacArthur won't happen for at least another two months, Leider said. The Duluth School Board is expected to choose a contractor for the demolition on Jan. 17, and there will be a month's worth of asbestos abatement work to be done. 

Here's the front entrance in 1967, from the West Junior High School yearbook West-Word.