Mark Nicklawske, Author at Perfect Duluth Day

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Mark Nicklawske Posts

Chester Park restaurant recycles ‘Pigeon House’

Nov 06, 2024 No Comments

A Better Futures Minnesota worker removes shingles from the roof of the ‘Pigeon House.’ The home was purchased and recycled by owners of the nearby restaurant At Sara’s Table / Chester Creek Café. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

Deck-side diners at a popular Chester Park neighborhood restaurant are treated to glorious Lake Superior views but staff knew an abandoned house — in a direct line of vision — could easily spoil the scene.

The “Pigeon House” had to go — but not to a landfill.

News and Current Affairs At Sara's Table / Chester Creek Cafe

Duluth Grill expands into West Duluth with new chicken eatery

Oct 21, 2024 2 Comments

Mural artists Kevin Ballecer, left, and Mela Nguyen are painting the exterior of Chicken n’ Whaaat?! on Central Avenue in West Duluth. The pair also painted murals for Burger Paradox on Superior Street. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).

A family-owned restaurant group that helped revitalize Lincoln Park will expand outside the neighborhood for the first time with a new fast-casual chicken eatery attached to a West Duluth gas station.

News and Current Affairs, Restaurants Duluth Grill Family of Restaurants, West Duluth

Iconic Curious Goods building for sale in Superior

Sep 26, 2024 No Comments

Taimi Ranta has owned the Curious Goods building for about 35 years. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

A widely photographed building on one of the funkiest street corners in Superior is up for sale after a long run as an antique store, warehouse and spare apartment.

The Curious Goods building, 1717 Winter St., just off Tower Avenue, has been put up for sale by owner Taimi Ranta after about 35 years of using the property for her antique and vintage sales business. While Curious Goods featured an enticing and colorful storefront the space has been used only as a warehouse for the past two decades.

News and Current Affairs Superior

Morgan Park church wins place on national registry; highlights historic Duluth properties tour

Sep 13, 2024 No Comments

United Protestant Church member Bob Berg, left, Moderator Marna Fasteland and Pastor Mitch Nelson stand in a back balcony inside the church sanctuary. The Morgan Park church was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A monumental concrete block church constructed by idle steelworkers in early 19th-century Morgan Park earned national recognition last month and will be a stop on a historic building tour this weekend in Duluth.

News and Current Affairs Architecture, Duluth Preservation Alliance, Morgan Park

Hidden Hunters Park mansion up for sale

Aug 10, 2024 No Comments

Duluth grain magnate W.J. McCabe and his wife Jane Chidlaw McCabe built this Georgian-style colonial mansion in 1914. It is located in Hunters Park, about two miles uphill from Glensheen Mansion. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

Duluth is famous for its turn-of-the-century mansions proudly showcased in busy, well-touristed east-side neighborhoods, but a few historic homes are tucked away in unexpected places far from the grand Lake Superior shoreline.

One of those hidden gems is up for sale.

News and Current Affairs Hunter's Park

Historic record store building gets new life downtown

Jul 29, 2024 3 Comments

Peter Pascente stands outside the former Young at Heart record store building at 22 W. First St. Pascente is rehabilitating the 1893 structure. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).

The Young at Heart record store was a Downtown Duluth musical mainstay for some 40 years when it closed in 1999. After its colorful store fixtures were claimed by the Minnesota Historical Society and massive inventory moved to Superior, the building sat unused for two decades and fell into disrepair.

Now the property at 22 W. First St. has a new life and big plans that include more music in the historic space.

News and Current Affairs Coffee Shops

Wisconsin dairy set to open specialty cheese shop at RiverWest

Jun 21, 2024 No Comments

New Duluth store manager Jessy Peterson, left, and Vice President of Retail Operations Jamie Swan stand in front of the cheese cases at the Burnett Dairy Cooperative store in Alpha, Wisconsin. The new Duluth store will feature a similar layout. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

Duluth cheese lovers will have an extraordinary place to shop for their provolone, cheddar and curds next month when an award-winning Wisconsin dairy opens a large specialty store in a newly developed section of the Riverside neighborhood below Spirit Mountain.

News and Current Affairs, Restaurants Riverside

West Duluth event center planned as MidCoast Catering expands

May 10, 2024 No Comments

MidCoast Catering owner Jonathan Reznick stands outside his Central Avenue buildings. Reznick is remodeling the property on the left to create a new event center called The Tasting Room. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

A popular Duluth food truck and catering business plans to expand operations later this summer when it opens a new event center adjacent to its West Duluth headquarters.

The Rambler food truck and MidCoast Catering owner Jonathan Reznick said he purchased the Michael Talarico law offices at 313 N. Central Ave. last May. Reznick connected the building to his catering kitchen next door and launched remodeling efforts this spring. The new space will be called the Tasting Room.

News and Current Affairs West Duluth

Two miracles inspire new cannabis grow store in Lincoln Park

Apr 10, 2024 No Comments

Marios Glitsos, right, and fiancé Brooke Joyce are opening Grow Your Own Garden Supply at 1801 W. Michigan St. in Lincoln Park. The store will specialize in cannabis cultivation. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

It took at least two miracles for longtime cannabis grower Marios Glitsos to open a new Duluth garden supply store.

News and Current Affairs Agriculture / Farming, Lawn and Garden, Lincoln Park Craft District, Marijuana / Cannabis

Hermantown Fleet Farm property sold to North Dakota investors

Mar 29, 2024 No Comments

The Fleet Farm property in Hermantown has been sold to a North Dakota investment firm for $30 million. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

The Fleet Farm big-box retail store property in Hermantown has been sold to a real estate investment firm based in Fargo, North Dakota for $30 million.

News and Current Affairs Hermantown

Wired Whisker Cat Café, Duluth’s first cat-adoption coffee shop, opening later this year

Feb 28, 2024 3 Comments

Misha Smith stands outside the future home of Wired Whisker Cat Café, 1823 E. Superior St. The building served as home to Endion Square Children’s Center for 33 years. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

Duluth will soon see its first cat café open with a special lounge where customers can drink coffee and meet the “purr-fect” adoptable pet.

Jungle North Holdings purchased the former Endion Square Children’s Center, 1823 E. Superior St., in November and is currently directing a full building renovation. St. Louis County records show the new owners paid $216,000 for the 1,800-square-foot property.

News and Current Affairs Endion

Sunshine Café leads the list of 2023 restaurant casualties

Dec 22, 2023 1 Comment

The Sunshine Café in West Duluth closed at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020. Owners announced this year it will not reopen. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

One of Duluth’s most significant restaurant closures of 2023 technically happened in 2020. The Sunshine Café closed more than three years ago as COVID-19 swept the country. What was considered a temporary closure at the time was finally announced as permanent in September 2023.

The Twin Ports restaurant scene has stabilized and grown as the pandemic has wound down, but the closure of the beloved diner at 5719 Grand Ave. in West Duluth can be seen as evidence the coronavirus fallout lingers. The Sunshine Café had been a neighborhood gathering place for more than three decades.

News and Current Affairs, Restaurants R.I.P.

Cemetery land sale preserves trails through Morley Heights and Woodland wilderness

Nov 15, 2023 3 Comments

Park Hill Cemetery is located off Vermillion Road in the Morley Heights neighborhood of Duluth. The Park Hill Cemetery Association is selling 52-acres of excess property on its northern edge to the city of Duluth. The property will remain natural. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

A rugged chunk of deep forest in a remote northeast corner of Duluth has been secured for preservation and ongoing trail use after city officials agreed to buy the property, which was reserved for cemetery space more than 100 years ago.

News and Current Affairs

Hayward record and book store will move to Duluth

Oct 04, 2023 No Comments

The former Riverside Flooring building at 1814 W. Superior St. in Lincoln Park will be home to a new record and book store. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A Superior native and long-time music collector who haunted some legendary, long-lost Twin Ports area record stores plans to open his own shop in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District.

Todd Hanson, owner of Hole in the Wall Books and Records in Hayward, has announced plans to open a new store in the former Riverside Flooring building at 1814 W. Superior St. this fall. The store will be called River City Records and Books.

Music, News and Current Affairs Hayward, Lincoln Park Craft District, Lincoln Park Neighborhood / The Friendly West End, Record Stores

Rebuilt Civil War veteran’s house part of historic properties tour

Sep 15, 2023 No Comments

Diane and Steve Dick stand outside their renovated home on 43rd Avenue East and London Road. The home was built in 1889 by Civil War veteran John Mallman and will be featured on the Duluth Preservation Alliance Historic Properties Tour this Sunday. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

A long abandoned duplex in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood was a complete wreck that showed no sign of its historic past when Steve and Diane Dick purchased it. Their simple renovation plan was to make room for an aging parent and host regular gatherings with their children and grandchildren.

Eight years on, the project has accomplished all the necessary family duties and more. The house stands out among its stately London Road neighbors and keeps an important piece of history alive: its original owners were Civil War veteran and early mining-exploration Captain John Mallman and his wife Catherine.

News and Current Affairs Architecture, Duluth Preservation Alliance