Tourism tax talk

Will Visit Duluth with all that money be promoting our municipal golf courses? Oh, that’s right they can’t afford to continue to help the courses out.

A very comprehensive article – well done. I think it is also noteworthy that the St. Louis River Corridor is going to be the second highest recipient of tourism tax funding in 2020 and 2021, which is around $1,700,000 annually, or $18 million over ten years, as the article points out. The St. Louis River Corridor may be worth recognizing on the above graph.

In my discussions with the city so far, some of this money has gone to or is earmarked for the following:

Improvements to Wheeler field.
Snow making system for Spirit Mountain alpine ski hills.
Snow making systems for Spirit Mountain Cross Country trails.
Lake Superior Zoo – 3 new upcoming exhibits.
5.5 miles of trail improvements on the DWP trail from below Spirit Mountain to approximately Becks Road.
Saint Louis estuary improvements for canoeing and kayaking.
Improvements all along the Western Waterfront / Marten Trail.
Improvements to Chambers Grove Park.
Improvements slated for Lincoln Park.

It certainly seems like the tourism tax has allowed Duluth amenities and resources (whether you agree with them all or not) like a ski hill, an aquarium, an event and convention center, a zoo, park improvements, waterfront improvements, etc., to live beyond their means. The discussion will continue on how to best distribute the funding and how to perpetuate the funding’s long term success. Very worthy discussion.

Thanks for the work!

Thanks for your comments. They remind me that this article is due for an update, with a greater emphasis on St. Louis River Corridor projects. Two additional large Corridor projects to include on your list are Wade Stadium improvements ($2.3 million) and Phase I construction of the Nordic Center at Spirit Mountain ($1 million).

Council has asked for a long overdue update on the Corridor projects–where has the money actually gone to, what’s left, and what’s to come?

I would say it has been successful in drawing attention and getting folks to move out west, yet we should be seeing more regular updates then we have seen which I think is zero in like maybe 5 years.

The Corridor has been ignored up until this project, as far as the smaller projects go. The process has been far from transparent. The citizens that live out in the Corridor have had to work way too hard to be heard.

A couple projects have very little support other than the Administration telling us all they know what’s best. We can and should do better with a more cooperative process.