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The City of Duluth Community Development office has received approval for a $225,000 Minnesota Historical and Cultural program grant from the Minnesota Historical Society to be used towards repair and preservation of the former St. Louis County Jail, which was recently purchased by a private developer, Blue Limit, LLC.   

Among the 56 recipients, the City received the largest grant amount. The funds will go towards clean up, rehabilitation work, and utility repairs.  A large portion of the grant will help repair the roof and terra cotta cornices. Due to the presence of standing water on each level of the building, there is significant clean up needed.   Blue Limit will contribute additional funds to supplement the preservation efforts.          

Councilor Dan Hartman, who has been a strong advocate for redevelopment of the jail said "2010 is turning out to be a terrific year for our city's nationally recognized historic structures, like the Old St. Louis County Jail between the Historic State Tax credit and the new MN Historical & Cultural Fund - they both go a long way to help provide a helping hand to developers like Blue Limit to rehab these buildings for use by the community again"

The Civic Center Complex which includes the old jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places November 11, 1986 and to the local register of Historic places August 27, 1995.