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Duluth's Making Canal Park Pop-up Proposal is a Finalist for Knight Cities Challenge Grant

[Duluth, MN] - A recent trip to Copenhagen, organized and funded through the Knight Foundation and 8 80 Cities, attended by Duluth representatives Chief Administrative officer David Montgomery and City Councilor Elissa Hansen, inspired the idea of common pedestrian oriented gathering spaces that hope to build social capital and connections between people.  This concept proposal was selected by the Knight Cities Challenge program out of over 4,500 applicants and is one of three Duluth projects among 144 finalists nationwide.

"As we imagine Duluth and its land use plan 20 years into the future, this is a great way to combine elements of economic development with creative use of open space. We are excited to partner with the Canal Park Business Association to further develop this project and find new ways to engage Duluth residents. Canal Park is a wonderful tourist destination but it can also be where residents, commerce and creativity converge. This project is grounded in our work towards achieving prosperity that is inclusive of everyone," said Mayor Emily Larson. 

“Duluth is a city with innovative thinkers and problem solvers. Alternative modes of transit and common open spaces help engage and create a sense of community connectedness. This proposal arose from studying other cities and Copenhagen in particular. We want to consider how we purposefully build infrastructure to grow a culture supporting socio-economic mobility and we know that disparities and lack of access to open spaces hinders healthy neighborhoods. This proposal confronts these issues. Canal Park was chosen to host the “pop-up” concepts given its central location, access to the Lakewalk trail, and available amenities to our residents.” said Councilor Elissa Hansen.

The project goal is to enhance local community members activity in Canal Park year round. The pop-ups would enable the use of existing open spaces, roadways, and create common public plazas to encourage people of all socio-economic backgrounds and neighborhoods to gather and interact.

The concept will be fleshed out with further details in the next round of grant applications to the Knight Foundation.

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