Duluthians Invited To Share Visions For Now-Closed Central High Property
There are a lot of opinions out there in regards to the property where Duluth Central High School is located. Now you can let your voice be heard Wednesday night at 7pm in the Duluth Central auditorium.
The city will seek ideas from the community in a meeting Wednesday to discuss the site’s future use and potential redevelopment. Central — which overlooks Lake Superior from atop a hill — closed last school year as part of the Duluth school district’s long-range facilities plan. Its students were reassigned to Denfeld and East high schools.
Duluth’s community development and planning divisions have held similar meetings as the district has closed other schools as part of its long-range facilities plan. Because school properties are identified as “institutional” in the city’s 2006 comprehensive land use plan, the district is limited to certain buyers unless that designation is changed to something else, like mixed-use or commercial.
The city is going to offer ideas and accept others from the public.
“We’re going to throw everything out there,” said Cindy Petkac, the city’s land use supervisor. “Changing to a big box retailer? More office headquarters or a light manufacturing facility? No decisions have been made.”
Feedback from the community will be considered by the city’s planning commission, which will hold a public hearing in 2012 and then make a recommendation to the City Council