Sandstone Wall to Be Restored at Old Central High School

Wall at Historic Duluth School Being Restored

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If you drive by the Old Central High School you may notice the sandstone wall is gone.

But, no worries! It will be back. 

The concrete blocks you see now will be used as a hidden retaining wall to hold up the previous 95 year old wall. 

All the brown sandstone that was removed will be placed in the exact same spot. 

“By taking pictures and documenting each brown stone, we plan to put those back in the exact same location.  So, the appearance will stay the same as what we had,” said Dave Spooner with the Facilities Management Department for the Duluth Public Schools.

The gutter removal in their previous construction caused a set back. 

“It caused the rain water to shut off the roof and in turn let the earth slide down the hill pushing lateral pressure on the retaining wall behind the brown stones.  So, that in turned kind of tipped everything over,” said Spooner. 

The reconstruction will allow for the wall to last another 100 years. 

Officials couldn’t say when the project will wrap up.

The brick wall was built in 1892.