Some Summer Tourism Uncertainty For Irvin, Vista With Delayed Seawall Reconstruction
City Projects Seawall Project Complete After Grandma's Marathon Weekend
DULUTH, Minn. – There’s some slight uncertainty involving the summer tourism season for Duluth’s Vista Fleet and William A. Irvin.
This comes as the multi-million dollar seawall reconstruction project is roughly two months behind schedule and won’t be complete until sometime mid-summer after Grandma’s Marathon weekend.
Last week, the Irvin was moved away from the seawall in the Minnesota Slip to prepare for work there.
The DECC’s executive director, Chelly Townsend, confirms the Irvin may not open right away come May, but she stresses the Irvin will eventually open this summer and potentially in a different location behind the DECC where the Vista is parked.
The other reason for the boat possibly temporarily locating is because even when the wall is done, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency needs to get moving on the pollution clean-up part of the project… throughout the slip.
As for the Vista Fleet, owner Justin Steinbach says he has been assured by the city that his docking operations toward the back of the DECC, including a station made last year because of the crumbling wall, won’t be affected for the Fleet’s May 1 season opener.
Meanwhile Thursday, an excavator was tearing apart the original 1980s Vista Fleet ticket office behind the DECC and near the Minnesota Slip blue bridge.
In recent years, the building was condemned because of the rapidly crumbing seawall and failing timbers from the 1800s built to hold up the dock area there, according to Steinbach.
Steinbach says it will be night and day when the seawall is finally repaired and upgraded.
“Almost 90 percent of our dock last season was unusable. So to finally see this project commence and get underway and us going back to being able to have access to all of our dock, plus it will be better boarding … it’s great,” Steinbach said.
For Friday’s story on the moving of the Irvin, click here.
