Clyde Park

Location: 2920 W. Michigan Street, Duluth, MN
Nominated by: Barr Engineering Co.

Prior to redevelopment, the property covered 10 acres and included approximately 19 industrial buildings. It is a highly visible site adjacent to Interstate I-35 just west of downtown Duluth and near the city’s waterfront. The property had a long history of heavy industrial use, first as an iron foundry and heavy machining shop from the 1890s until the 1970s. As Clyde’s operations ceased, the community lost more than jobs, it lost a center of activity. By about 2002, the site was largely vacant and blighted with poorly maintained surfaces, buildings, and an incomplete security fence and was subject to vandalism and theft.

Issues at the site included filled areas containing foundry sand and furnace slag materials as well as petroleum-contaminated soil from former underground storage tanks and an adjacent bulk-petroleum- storage facility. The chemicals of concern at the site were petroleum compounds, petroleum- related volatile organic compounds (VOCs), arsenic, lead, and semi-VOCs.

The project’s collaborators were able to match geotechnical and environmental site conditions related to buildings and planned uses while balancing costs; clear excess native site soil for off-site export and manage as much of the construction-generated fill soils in on-site areas; incorporate building vapor protections inside the old structure; secure financing for the various phases, which required an ever-increasing circle of partners as the project phases advanced; and obtain 19 resolutions from the City Council regarding easements, agreements, and covenants.

Now redeveloped, the property is once again a focal point for the community. The 28,200 square-foot Clyde Iron (Restaurant and Venue) is a daily gathering point for residents. The Duluth Heritage Sports Center at Clyde served nearly a half-million guests last year. It is a multiplex facility anchored by the restored 27,900 square-foot foundry building, which is flanked by a 1,200-seat hockey arena and a 28,000 square-foot multi-sport pavilion. The hockey arena at the DHSC is the permanent home for youth and high school hockey in Duluth. The redevelopment is also the new home of the Duluth Children’s Museum, the nation’s fifth oldest children’s museum.

Project Financing

$80,200 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
$45,000 Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development
$1,380,537 Minnesota DEED Brownfields cleanup grant
$1,810,150 Minnesota DEED Redevelopment grant
$333,249 Minnesota DEED Supplemental cleanup grant application

Project Partners

• Clyde Industrial Park, Inc.
• City of Duluth
• Duluth Heritage Sports Center
• Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• DSGW
• Kraus-Anderson Construction & Mortgage Companies
• Barr Engineering Company
• Beacon Bank
• Duluth Public Schools
• Boys and Girls Club
• Duluth Children’s Museum
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
• Duluth Amateur Hockey Association
• Zeppa Foundation
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Minnesota Community Capital Fund
• Northspan