Duluth City Council holds study session on future of skywalk system

DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth City Council held a meeting regarding the future of the city’s skywalk system.

After six months of analysis, consultants from MIG and Civilis identified accessibility challenges, declining foot traffic, high vacancy rates, and ongoing security concerns throughout the skywalk system. They emphasized that the skywalk is nearing or has surpassed its useful life.

The consultants presented council members with three possible paths forward: fully reinvesting in the system, removing it entirely, or pursuing a hybrid approach that would keep some sections while dismantling others.

“This is your classic economic theory of sunk cost, and so here’s my question, really, for the whole community: everything that you know about the skywalk today, would you build it from scratch?” said Michele E. Reeves, urban strategist at CIVILIS Consultants.

Of the three possible paths forward, consultants recommended the city pursue a hybrid approach.

“This thing was not built without a tremendous amount of public investment, and you are not going to do any of these options, also without a tremendous amount of public investment,” said Reeves.

Moving forward, the public will have the opportunity to give input at future meetings.