Future of Old Central H.S. Property Becoming More Clear
By:
DULUTH - The fate of Duluth's old Central High School has been up in the air ever since its last school day in June of 2011.
But Thursday night, there were signs that there may finally be some movement regarding the old school property that's considered one of the hottest spots for new development.
Representatives from both the district and city's planning division hosted a public meeting to unveil new rezoning changes to the hillside property.
The change includes rezoning its current Residential Traditional (R-1) into three distinct districts: Parks, Urban Residential (R-2) and Mixed Use Business (MU-B).
The Parks district is meant to protect and reserve lands for recreational uses like the Duluth Traverse Trail. The Urban Residential is meant to accommodate multi–family apartments and townhouses. While, the Mixed Use District will allow for commercial, office, retail and other business ventures.
"We want to rezone the property so the district can sell it. They don't have to tell the developer, well it's contingent upon getting it rezoned. We want to help the district so that it's ready to be developed as soon as they have a purchaser of the site," said Keith Hamre, director of planning and construction for the City of Duluth.
People attending the meeting did raise concerns about preserving each of their respected residential neighborhoods, while also drawing attention to future access points which could cause added traffic.
The rezoning plan will now be considered by the Duluth Planning Commission at a public hearing that will take place either March 12 or 26. If it passes there, it will then be brought before the city council.
