Post-pandemic construction heats up

Several building projects around Cloquet are being noticed after the ebbing Covid-19 pandemic shut many projects down due to a shortage of materials in the past year. The Pine Knot News talked to a few business owners and representatives about their projects. If your businesses has similar new, moving or expanding news, send your information to PKN reporters at [email protected].

Dance studio

The building at 1404 Cloquet Ave. has lost its round roofline, a vestige of its original use as a farm mercantile store. The shape is now on point, as it has been transformed into a studio space for its neighboring business at 1402 Cloquet Ave., Shooting Stars Dance.

Lucas and Suzy Goodin own the dance company and began working on the 1404 building last March, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lucas Goodin said the building was pretty much gutted to create the space for what is now a third studio for Shooting Stars. It was formerly home to a pet grooming shop, with several incarnations since it was last used as a place where grain was sold. Goodin said the demo revealed old seed signs. It has also been a grocery, service station and a pizza joint.

The Goodins moved into the larger building in 2015 with two dance studios after utilizing just one before the move.

Clinic project

Essentia restarted its new clinic construction in June after it was put on pause after leveling and some foundation work was begun in the fall of 2019 at the former Driftwood Motel property on the west side of Minnesota Highway 33. The footprint for the building has gone from 10,000 square feet to 8,000, as Essentia spent a year analyzing needs in the area.

Tamm Kritzer, Essentia's senior vice president of operations, said the clinic should be completed by the late winter or early spring of 2022. She said the Covid-19 pandemic was a major "disruptor" in getting the project back on track.

Eagles work

The former Cloquet Eagles building has seen a lot of action on the side that faces Cloquet Avenue. The building has been purchased by the operators of a popular downtown restaurant nearby who didn't want to reveal any exact plans just yet. Public documents confirmed the sale. The restaurant is heading up the current work being done outside of the building, which includes a new patio. We will have more details as they become available.

The Eagles building last housed the NE BBQ restaurant, which closed in the fall of 2019.

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