Gabriel’s Bookstore & Others Told to Vacate After Potential Demolition

DULUTH, Minn. — Gabriel’s Bookstore, Sami Cultural Center, and other tenants within the Lakeside Professional Building have until late spring to vacate the site after recent plans to demolish the over 100 year-old structure.

The property is owned by St. Michael’s Catholic Church. The building was originally constructed in 1914, but numerous financial meetings with the pastor it was ultimately decide to demolish the site.

The once church is estimated to cost around $1-2 million in repairs. The roof, boiler, windows, drain tiles, the entire heating system and foundation are just some of the problems awaiting to be fixed. However, the estimated cost to destroy the site sit between $2-300,000.

“It has not been really that well taken care of over the last several decades,” said Father Seth Gogolin. “Part of that is we’ve just been using the revenue from what we get in this building to help take care of this building, which is not enough to keep it up. The last two pastors have also had notes, which were on my desk when I arrived here, that this was really a big decision point for our finance council to say, ‘Do we want to pump millions of dollars into this building, or is it time to look at taking this building down for a much lesser cost?'”

Gabriel’s Bookstore has occupied the Lakeside Professional Building since 1994. Currently, the volunteer-run bookstore looks to close its final chapter when the building is set to be destroyed.

“I’m hoping that maybe some of the people who come in over the next several months could be the answer to where Gabriel’s ends up and what volunteer staff it may have in the future,” said Father Gogolin.

Father Gogolin said the only way the Lakeside Professional Building won’t be destroyed is if someone wants to buy and repair it from them, which they are open to. The demolition is set to happen between May and July of this year.