2025 Outlook for Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

DULUTH, Minn.– Management at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center are ready for a stronger year ahead following operational challenges that lead to a million-dollar loan request from the city in 2024.

“We had a lot of capital projects here that failed. So, when the DECC arena system broke, we then had to do an emergency fix for our entire AC unit for harbor side. And for a building of this nature, this is not a $20,000 dollar fix. It’s a multi hundred-dollar fix. That’s what got us a couple years ago,” said Dan Hartman, Executive Director at the DECC.

DECC Executive Director Dan Hartman is proud that he never had to use the 1-million-dollar line of credit after all.

And now, he’s looking forward to debuting a new outside entertainment and gathering venue behind the DECC where a new seawall has been constructed.

“So, we’re very excited about this. A big part of why this happened, is as we’re working at putting on a venue called ‘Portside Park’ it really emphasizes how important coordination will be between all the different sites,” said Hartman.

Hartman said that coordination will be stronger than ever, now that Bayfront is being managed by the DECC again.

He also said entertainment between Bayfront and the DECC will complement each other, not compete.

And now with Portside Park… there’s an opportunity for new entertainment events that could never fill the much larger Bayfront Park.

“One of the struggles we have, we want to be able to have these smaller bands in that 4,000 range. And 4,000 people in bayfront is too small. So, it’s great to create a venue that has that smaller crowd,” said Hartman.

Hartman says, Portside Park will also better connect Canal Park down to Bayfront.

“One of the issues we’ve always had with Bayfront, is it’s actually further from Canal than people realize. When folks go to Bayfront, they don’t tend to walk back over to Canal. And we’ve learned through our Winter Village, that when there’s an event in that space, they go back and forth all day,” explained Hartman.

It’s a new chapter for the DECC that Hartman believes will better position Duluth as an entertainment destination for locals and visitors that other cities can’t recreate.

“My hope building the Portside Park, is that people are going to be more anxious to say ‘Hey, I’m going to have dinner at Lake Avenue. And then I’m going to go to that concert tonight. Or I’m going to that shopping event at Portside Park.’ Imagine there’s a conference here in Duluth. That conference could have a round table. The keynote would be on the seawall. And so, your background view is the boats going through here in Duluth. And you know we’re always thinking about how we can be that step up above our competition in the state,” said Hartman.