West Duluth Posts

So long, Stadium Lanes

May 27, 2014 5 Comments

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Stadium Lanes and the Clubhouse Bar have been wrapping up operations over the past two weeks. The building at 132 N. 34th Ave. W., between Wade Stadium and the ore docks, is being gutted and sold. There will be no more bowling in West Duluth … except for lawn bowling. Word is the new owner will divide the building up into some type of business center or mall, with mini storage units.

Stadium Lanes opened in 1960, owned then by Dick Karon and Jerry Singer. Randy Hill has owned it since 2004, later changing the name of the bar to Clubhouse. Before that it was Mary’s Place.


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R.I.P. Memorial Community Center

Apr 09, 2014 3 Comments

The community center building at Memorial Park in West Duluth is no more. The PDD Drone did a fly through on Sunday for posterity.

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History, R.I.P., Videos ,

Does Mayor Ness realize that the tourism tax is taxing the residents of Duluth?

Mar 24, 2014 61 Comments

Today in the Duluth News Tribune there is an article about our mayor wanting to bring back a .5 percent tax on our restaurants, hotels, and other amenities. My question is how do we as citizens of Duluth then get exempted from that tax? Should we not go to our local restaurants? Should we not go to Canal Park and support our local businesses?

This just seems unfair to those who live here to have us pay an extra tax to use our own local amenities. I’ve read that we pay very high taxes in our community compared to others, which made me wonder why we don’t get cards to exempt us from “tourist” taxes. This tax would go for the next 15 years and fund development of West Duluth. Well, that’s great, but what about us here in the Endion area? I can see taxing the hotels to get the tourists, but taxing restaurants makes me want to take my local money elsewhere.

I don’t think it is fair to those of us who live here, and if this is a push by our mayor there should be a way to exempt anyone who has a local identification.


News and Current Affairs, Politics , , ,

Whole Foods Co-op in West Duluth, a/k/a WFC – Denfeld

Feb 25, 2014 11 Comments

Here’s how the Whole Foods Co-op broke the news about its new store on Feb. 24:

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The future location of Duluth’s second Whole Foods Co-op will be 4426 Grand Ave. It will be a 7,000-square-foot store.

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News and Current Affairs , ,

Down on Raleigh Street

Dec 31, 2013 No Comments

Slideshow by Roger Nesje with music by Steve Johnson, paying tribute to old Two Street in West Duluth.


History, Music, Videos

West Duluth Save-a-lot closing

Dec 22, 2013 10 Comments

It’s like losing a family member in a stupid way – we got to know the employees and we relied on them for the basic staples.

Save-a-Lot in the Spirit Valley Mall is closing. It sounds like the owner is retiring. Maybe another franchisee will take it over.


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R.I.P. Mike, Mike and Tom graffiti on Central Avenue

Sep 24, 2013 3 Comments

For decades, the names of two guys named Mike and a Tom were spraypainted unceremoniously on this wall, now that has been painted over.

I’m not sure when this changed but I just noticed it today. I met the new owner of the Italian Village a month or so ago and he seems to be doing a lot to expand and spruce up the storefront. So today I was only a little surprised when the graffiti that was painted on the side of the building years decades ago had been covered up by what looks like will eventually be a new mural.

Here is a post by Paul Lundgren from a few years ago with some fun history and comments about the two Mikes and the Tom who had their names painted on the building. According to the comments, it has also been painted over before, so perhaps it’s not gone forever.


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RJ’s Coffee Den in West Duluth

Sep 08, 2013 6 Comments

RJ's Coffee Den

RJ’s Coffee Den reopened at a new location, 330 N. 57th Ave. W., just shy of a month ago. The Den was formerly located in Proctor, and closed in October 2011. The new owner, Renea Johnson, has hopes to keep the business alive having remodeled the former Erbert & Gerbert’s sandwich shop next to the Kom-on-Inn Bar.

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Restaurants ,

R.I.P. Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Duluth

Aug 13, 2013 4 Comments

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Westminster Presbyterian Church demolition is underway at 4441 Grand Avenue in West Duluth. The church was a victim of the Historic Summer Solstice Flood Disaster of 2012, when a culvert beneath the building worked its way into the basement and wrecked the place. The city of Duluth bought it as part of its Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program. The church was built in 1961.

Update: In 2015 Westminster’s congregation moved to a new home at 9030 Beaudry St. in Duluth’s lower Smithville neighborhood.


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The F-94C Starfire of Memorial Park Fame

Jul 22, 2013 3 Comments

minn-ang-starfire

The relic in the photo above is a Lockheed F-94C Starfire. It was on display at Memorial Park in West Duluth from May 1960 until October 1996 (photo of its removal above). It is not the same airplane that is currently displayed in the parking lot of American Legion Post 71.

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History ,

Casket Quarry | Duluth Crushed Stone Co.

Dec 22, 2012 11 Comments

duluth-casket-quarry-in-winter

According to the 1943 book Mineral Resources of Minnesota, edited by William H. Emmons and Frank F. Grout, “the Duluth Crushed Stone Company quarried gabbro at Duluth for road stone, railroad ballast, concrete aggregate, rubble for retaining walls, and riprap (large fragments for piers, breakwaters, etc.).”

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History ,

Spirit Valley Fresh Farm Market

Sep 20, 2012 5 Comments

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Was the place with the Spirit Valley Fresh Farm Market sign a farmers’ market at one time? As near as I can tell, the answer is yes. I can’t really verify it was a farmers’ market, or provide any details about how it operated, but the 1984 city directory does list a “Spirit Valley Fresh Farm Market” at 5831 Grand Ave. in West Duluth. Karen H. Linder was listed as the proprietor.

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History

Repurposed Duluth Day: Central Sales

Apr 19, 2012 3 Comments

Xena

[This five-part series profiles local dealers of used goods, in all their rich variety. Others in the series: North Shore Architectural Antiques, Sellers Auction, Retro Antiques and Art in the Alley.]

Judy Okstad stands at the counter of Central Sales, welcoming customers into a three-floor-deep ocean of stuff. Seriously… a lot of stuff.

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Random ,

December 1977 North Pole Bar Robbery

Apr 02, 2012 5 Comments

Karen Barta has the story for NewsCenter 6.


History, Videos , ,

Lights out at the ‘Big L’

Feb 20, 2012 11 Comments

I just noticed the Spirit Bottle Shoppe at 5801 Grand Ave. in West Duluth is closed and the building is for sale. I will miss the big red light and friendly service.

(Tiny photo circa 2004 by Barrett Chase.)


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