City Officials Propose Plan To Restore Parts of Park Point Shoreline

Summer is officially here and with the warmer temperatures locals and tourists alike will head off to the beaches of Park Point for some fun in the sun and a dip in the lake. But the waves and wind have eroded parts of the shoreline which have eroded away, but now a plan is place to fix it.

This particular plan was proposed by The City of Duluth and The Army Corp. of Engineers from Detroit during a webinar this week.  If this particular plan is approved  it would involve putting 50,000 cubic yards of clean dredged sand along the Park Point shoreline from the shipping canal all the way to the s-curve on 12th Street.

Patty Fowler, an Area Hydrologist for the Minnesota DNR said to WDIO, "It will provide a solution to the ongoing erosion and again, the loss of beach area that is affecting the natural systems on Minnesota Point and human infrastructure. It is also an opportunity to beneficially re-use the material from the harbor.”

Material for the project would come from the Duluth Front Channel, the Duluth Harbor Basin and the Duluth Anchorage Area. The material from this area will have to be tested to make sure it matches the sand on Park Point. If the project is approved the work would be done between August 1 and September 30 except for Labor Day. The work would be done 24/7 seven days a week because the contractors will need to make sure they have enough time to finish the project before Winter sets in.

If this project is approved Park Point will be closed North of 12th Street except to residents although people will still be able to use the beach at 12th Street. Although this is not a permanent solution it will help stabilize the shoreline for some time. A final decision on the proposal will be made on July 24.