Welcome
to the Greater Downtown Council’s new monthly
e-newsletter!
Lake
Avenue
Closure Delayed
The April 6th
closure of Lake
Avenue has been delayed due to weather
related issues. The closure had been slated due to
construction work on the long-awaited expansion of the skywalk
system to the Technology Village. Snow storms and
ice storms in the past weeks have hampered utility work in the alley
of the project area, so the avenue closure between First
Street and Superior
Street is being put on hold. We’ll
keep you posted when a new target date is determined.
Just a reminder; the
marked detour route will be 1st Avenue East.
But, as we know, locals tend to determine the best alternate
route for their destination. Pedestrian access to businesses
in the block will remain open via the sidewalk. It’s still
expected that the closure will last through late September.
DECC
Ready to Break Ground for Arena
Leaders at the DECC will
be breaking ground April 13th for the new arena.
This marks another exciting time for the Downtown Waterfront!
The new arena will accommodate seating for 6,600 for UMD men’s and
women’s hockey and allow for 8,500 for concerts. The nearly
$80 Million project also includes the addition of a skywalk and the
current construction of the 475-car parking ramp
expansion.
300 full-time union jobs
will be created during the arena construction; the work is slated to
be completed by December 31, 2010.
Duluth’s
Downtown Waterfront District Prepares for
Recertification
The Greater Downtown
Council is now in its
5th year of operating the Duluth Downtown Waterfront
District. Members of the Special Service District’s Advisory
Committee are pursuing recertification of the district as it has a
sunset clause of December 31, 2009.
This district brings you such things as
the heavily recognizable Clean & Safe Team, enhanced marketing
and events as well as physical enhancements to streetscape and
design.
We thank property owners
and the City of Duluth for their great financial
support of this program! Surveys conducted last year showed
substantial support for renewing the district so we are hopeful we
can continue bringing you valuable services to make our Downtown
Waterfront clean, safe and friendly. Since the creation of the
district, we have seen more than $200 million of investment and
reinvestment in our Downtown Waterfront.
gallery
hop
art for earth
day
Numerous Downtown
Waterfront galleries will be participating in the 19th
Annual Gallery Hop on Saturday, April 18th. The
event is being held as part of Earth Day week and will include free
receptions from 11AM-5PM on Saturday. Hop on the trolley for a
free ride between locations and enjoy the entertainment from buskers
performing out on the street.
Participating galleries
include: Art Dock, Blue Lake Gallery, Duluth Art Institute,
Lizzard’s Art Gallery and Framing, Perry Framing, Red Mug Gallery
(Superior), Sivertson Gallery, Tweed Museum of Art (UMD), Washington
Studios Artist’s Cooperative, Waters of Superior and A.H.Zeppa
Family Foundation.
Park
for FREE
The Greater Downtown Council encourages you to utilize our
Park Plus program. Members and property owners may purchase
books of coupons at discounted prices. Then, use the coupons
to provide your customers and clients free parking at our downtown
ramps. For more on the program, go to our website at
www.downtownduluth.com.
