Duluth’s Michael’s Store Remains Temporarily Closed Until Further Notice
Snow has been causing issues across the Northland this winter. Anyone that has to deal with snow removal is running out of places to put it, and the walls of snow along area roadways are making it dangerous with very limited visibility when leaving driveways or passing through intersections.
The most visible case of snow causing problems popped up last Tuesday, when a portion of the Miller Hill Mall roof collapsed, temporarily closing the entire mall, with a phased reopening plan just announced.
Another place impacted by snow problems is the Michael's Arts & Crafts Store in the Stone Ridge Shopping Center, just across Miller Trunk Highway from the Miller Hill Mall.
Additional snow on Thursday added to an already heavy load on the roof at Michael's, leading to a temporary closure of the store. A FOX 21 report states that some of the roof beams had cracked under the weight of heavy snow.
The store has remained closed since, with no announced date as to when they will be able to reopen. The store said they will remain closed until crews can assess the impact of what occurred to the roof and take necessary steps to be able to reopen.
As of Monday morning, crews were on the scene, removing snow from the roof and assessing the condition of the roof itself. As seen in the photo above, cranes were on-site, lifting tarps of snow from the roof surface.
The surrounding stores, including Office Depot, Bender's, and Petco, remain open at this time.
MORE: Tips to know when it's time to clean the snow off your roof
The visual of cranes lifting snow off roofs is a common one, with several in this part of Duluth alone.
On Monday, there were two spotted at Michael's, several continuing work at the Miller Hill Mall, and an additional crane working on snow removal from the roof of the Cub Foods building, spotted working near Papa Murphy's on the northwest corner of the building on Monday morning.
While the mall and Michael's were forced to close due to structural issues, there are no known issues at the Cub Foods building. Crews appear to just be removing snow as a preventative measure.
There have been some additional buildings that have seen structural issues or collapse around the region this winter, with some private structures, as well as a St. Louis County maintenance facility suffering damage under heavy snow in recent days.
With more snow on the way later this week, this stands as a good reminder to building owners to be sure to remove excess snow in a timely fashion. Despite the calendar turning to springtime, we're not quite out of the woods on snow causing issues for Northlanders yet.