Planned riverfront park downsized, on hold

St. Louis River at proposed park site

On July 20, 2020, the Duluth City Council approved Resolution 584, the Riverwest Drive construction agreement with Spirit Valley Land Company (SVLC). Riverwest Drive will be built directly across Grand Avenue from the entrance to Spirit Mountain. The road will run southward two blocks or so, through the SVLC’s property, and end in a turnaround at the Burlington Northern (BN) railroad tracks.

This is a major change from earlier plans. Originally, the road was planned to cross the tracks and proceed to a new park on the St. Louis River, a project which has been avidly pursued by the SVLC and city officials for over a decade. The hope has been that a new park, in conjunction with the SVLC’s development and Spirit Mountain, would create a bustling new hub of commerce in West Duluth.

The most controversial move by the city came in February of 2018, when the city Parks Commission (which almost always approves city proposals) voted to deny the proposed park on the river, due to the many area residents opposing a park in that location. In response, Mayor Emily Larson overrode their vote and brought the plan to the City Council anyway—the first time in recent memory a mayor has ignored a Parks Commission recommendation. Larson’s heavy-handed action has tainted the project with bitterness ever since—especially since some of the developers happen to be friends of hers.

On Feb. 26, 2018, the City Council approved the Lower Spirit Waterfront Access site plan. In addition to a road over the tracks, it called for a new parking lot below the tracks, two new beaches on the riverbank, a launching area for kayaks and canoes, restroom and changing facilities, and other amenities. But now, instead of a road, the city plans nothing more than a simple gravel footpath for people to carry their kayaks and canoes across the tracks and down to the river.

At the moment, however, even the revised plan is at a standstill. The city is unable to proceed, because negotiations to purchase approximately eight acres of land from BN have ground to a halt. When I spoke with Jim Filby Williams, Director of Property, Parks, and Libraries, on July 17, he said, “We came to agreement as of February of 2020 on terms with Burlington Northern for the [land] sale … and we were working with them on developing the relatively complicated and numerous exhibits that needed to accompany that purchase sale agreement, and just at that time the pandemic hit in full force, and BN ceased all communications, more or less, with the city.”

Nevertheless, Filby Williams did not believe that negotiations for a land sale were permanently halted. He said, “[BN] did not indicate that they have changed their minds … I think we’re cautiously optimistic that we will eventually get there on the acquisition … That whole area that people think of and use and enjoy as public property is actually owned by BN … People really value the experience that is available there now, and want, at minimum, to secure that experience for the future, and we intend to do all we can to do that.”

St. Louis River at proposed park site
Tallas Island, just offshore of proposed park site. Credit: John Ramos

The price of the BN land is about $200,000. Assuming the purchase goes forward at some point, the money will come from $660,000 in half-and-half tourism tax funds which the city has earmarked for the park. Of those same funds, an estimated $125,000 will be used to relocate the Western Waterfront Trail further from the rail line (for safety purposes), and an undetermined sum will go toward replacing the various invasive plants, which grow thickly on parts of the site, with native species. If the downsized park does not consume all the available funds, Filby Williams said, the remaining money would be “reassigned to other priorities.” As a possibility, he mentioned the River Route segment of the Cross City Trail, a project currently under construction, which he said had “uncomfortably thin contingency dollars” available.

The original concept for the new park—and its main selling point during Council deliberations—called for establishing an accessible kayak/canoe launch for disabled paddlers. Without a road servicing the park, an accessible kayak launch becomes impractical. That reality, combined with revenue loss due to the coronavirus pandemic, has some city councilors reconsidering their support of a new park. Councilor Joel Sipress, originally an enthusiastic supporter, said on July 16, “The issue of whether the kayak launch goes forward … particularly in light of the pandemic … is not a high priority for me.” And Councilor Derek Medved (who was not on the Council when the park was approved) said, “I have little to no appetite at this time to even consider the park project … I would be for keeping [the riverfront] as natural as possible.”

The city now hopes to build an accessible kayak launch at an existing public access site. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and other agencies are conducting a cleanup of river sediment at Munger Landing, about a mile to the south. According to Filby Williams, the agencies are receptive to the idea of the city putting in the new launch. “We’re cautiously optimistic that … [the] envisioned new canoe/kayak access would be in place when the contaminant cleanup is completed.”

When I contacted Burlington Northern for comment, External Communications Representative Courtney Wallace responded via email. “In February, we agreed in principle to a sale of the property as part of a deal involving various changes to recreational trails in and around BNSF’s tracks. BNSF and the City are currently working on the agreements, which will establish the terms and conditions for these changes and the real estate transactions that go with them. That process is still ongoing, and we expect that everything will move forward in due time.”

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One Reply to “Planned riverfront park downsized, on hold”

  1. Great report. It amazes me how much tourism tax money the City has spent already. If the tourism recovery takes more than one year the Tiffany glass may be on the auction block again.

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