Lot Where Historic Synagogue Burned to Become Parking Lot

DULUTH, Minn.– It’s been a little more than a year since a historic downtown Duluth synagogue burned to the ground.

The fire last September displaced a congregation that’s been around for 118 years at the Adas Israel Synagogue on the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue East.

Last week, nearby St. Ann’s residence purchased the lot for just under $100,000. Management there plans to turn the space into a parking lot.

“It’s their family members that visit and it’s the volunteers that come because many of them would fall in the senior category as well,” said St. Ann’s Executive Director Scott Johnson. “So just having greater access to the building and having flat-level access on that hill is all just super important.”

The suspect in the fire, 37-year-old Matthew Amiot who was homeless at the time, pleaded guilty to negligently starting the fire outside the synagogue that got out of control.