Demolition of outbuildings on the Morgan Park School site began this week. Developer Aaron Schweiger plans to construct several 12-plex apartment buildings on the property. It will be called Morgan Park Estates.

Elementary school classes in the Morgan Park neighborhood were held in apartment buildings and at a corner store until Morgan Park School opened at 1243 88th Ave. W. in 1916. The school initially served grades 1-8. High school classes were added in 1918, with the first graduating class of 12 holding its commencement in 1922.

An addition to the school was built in 1939. Another addition, completed in 1967, added the library, three classrooms and two guidance offices.

In 1970, the School Board voted to eliminate elementary classes at Morgan Park, making it a junior and senior high school. A fire damaged the school that same year.

A swimming pool was added in 1975.

The high school was closed by the Duluth School Board in 1982 due to declining enrollment. The closing of the U.S. Steel plant had reduced the size of the community. Future students from the neighborhood were sent to Denfeld High School.

Morgan Park and West Junior High School students were combined in the fall of 1982 to form the 750-student Morgan Park Junior High School. The school was remodeled and a music wing was added in 1983.

The name of the school was eventually changed to Morgan Park Middle School. It closed in 2012 when the new Lincoln Park Middle School opened eight miles away, serving 6-8th grade students from throughout the western portion of the city.