West End celebration imagines what could be

The West End of Cloquet was the first part of town rebuilt after the Fires of 1918 and has the most historic buildings, but it's also the area with the most vacant storefronts. It's a relatively small area: spanning avenues B, C and D from Broadway Avenue to the other side of Arch Street.

For the first 50 years or so of Cloquet's existence, the West End was the beating heart of the city, particularly in terms of government. City Hall and the jail were here, the Pine Knot newspaper and lots of different stores were all located in the West End, including banking and commerce, lodges, the Masonic Temple and the train depot. Traffic flowed from Dunlap Island up Arch Street to Pinehurst Park, and things were busy, busy, busy.

The construction of Highway 33 through Cloquet in the 1960s changed the traffic flow and suddenly people didn't have to drive through that part of town anymore. Government moved to downtown Cloquet and many other businesses followed.

Since then, the West End has been getting sleepier, literally. It's reached a point today that some landlords either can't or don't bother trying to rent out the ground floor, making ends meet by renting out apartments upstairs and leaving storefronts vacant.

City officials, artists and some West End businesses are working to change that.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, avenues B and C and Vine Street will be closed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a celebration of the West End and the arts, and many other things that make this part of Cloquet unique. Vendors will line Avenue C while classic cars park along Avenue B. Wentworth Park will be a hub of kids' activities, and the VFW parking lot will be transformed into an outdoor food court.

"We're throwing a party to showcase the West End Flourish efforts and encouraging people to imagine what Cloquet's Historic West End could be," said organizer Ivan Hohnstadt, Pine Knot News advertising director. "This is the Pine Knot's neighborhood. Why wouldn't we champion it and encourage others to help us revitalize the area?"

Cloquet community development director Holly Hansen points to Duluth's Lincoln Park as an area that has seen tremendous growth in recent years. It was a formerly struggling business district that is now a hip place to go eat and drink in Duluth. The former Avenue C restaurant might have sparked that kind of revival in Cloquet, but the popular bar/restaurant closed in 2017, less than a year after it opened.

On the bright side, several new businesses have arrived in recent years.

One of the biggest draws is the Common Ground Coffee Bar & Deli in the old Chief Theater; in addition to food and drink, the building has become an activity center for a number of groups. Split Rock Investing and Alaspa & Murray accounting moved into the old City Hall building. Crowned Salon owner Sarah Faust moved into the former Personal Touch Beaute building in October 2019, and stayed and thrived despite numerous challenges from both water pipes and the pandemic.

The new Lake Shore Tobacco Vapor smoke shop that went into the former Avenue C restaurant space certainly draws more people to the First National Bank Plaza building. A massive building, there's plenty more space for smaller businesses to set up shop, says owner Zach Wehr.

Long vacant, the old Roberts Home Furniture is home to the "Rise of the Podcast," a weekly Star Wars and pop culture livestreaming podcast. Owners Jeremy and Kara Manthey are renovating, and eventually plan to create a space for fellow media creators along with a couple storefronts that could be available for rent.

On Avenue D, the Smokies store is also under new ownership with apartments in back and the 'ant'cetera art and more store up front. A block up the hill, the former Masonic Temple is now the Nantiques antiques and collectibles shop, which opens most weekends at 402 Arch St.

Still, a number of storefronts sit vacant.

Skutevik's Floral brightened up the West End for over a year when it moved to Broadway Avenue, but recently moved to 1429 Cloquet Ave.

The former Naaslund's Creative Interiors building - a charming but deteriorating structure on the corner of Avenue C and Vine Street - isn't open for business. Boxes of books and other items fill the former Enstrom studios space and other storefronts look like they may be apartments, which is against city code in most cases.

Preserving history

The West End business district is zoned historic commercial. It was built as a business district, and the majority of the buildings are conjoined, Hansen explained. Current city code states that the ground floor of each building must be used for commercial purposes on the front half, although owners can put apartments in back if they get a conditional use permit from the city, and provided the apartment doesn't use more than 50 percent of the space.

Apartments have always been allowed upstairs, but must have off-street parking for tenants.

City planning and zoning administrator Al Cottingham said the zoning is messy: some buildings with front-facing ground floor apartments are "existing nonconforming" buildings and basically grandfathered in, and one was approved by the city about four years ago, while others have been converted illegally.

The mix of residential and commercial space led to a thriving area years ago, but the more spaces are converted into apartments or homes, the less likely they are to ever change back to commercial spaces, Hansen explained.

"As that changes, it changes the dynamic of the district," she said. "It doesn't serve the original function or purpose."

In short, things will just get sleepier, and the odds of attracting a cool new restaurant or brew pub will diminish.

Getting buy-in from residents and - even more importantly - landlords is vital. If buildings need work, they are less attractive to businesses looking to grow, Hansen said.

"That's very important in that district and there's certainly some room for improvement," Hansen said. "We need good landlords so there are nice office spaces and other spaces for businesses to move into."

If landlords aren't willing to rent for whatever reason, preferring to keep properties vacant, then revitalization becomes much more challenging.

Of equal importance is preserving the history of the district.

"The West End dates back to the 1920s and we're trying to preserve the historic nature of the district," Cottingham said. "It's way different in the West End than downtown east of Highway 33 - where the buildings are newer and more eclectic overall."

Build it and they will come?

In recent years, the city of Cloquet has led the efforts to revive the West End, by first undertaking massive projects to renovate and improve the network of parks that cluster in along the river and on either side of Highway 33, along with rebuilding Broadway Avenue into a roadway that was more friendly to pedestrians and easier to navigate.

Additionally, the Cloquet Economic Development Authority offered low-interest gap loans and grant money for building improvements to businesses that were owner-occupied in the West End; the city also put out a call for brew pubs or other destination drinkeries to consider the West End that didn't generate any new businesses.

More recently, revitalization efforts received a boost when the city was selected for the 2020 Artists on Main Street cohort, along with three other Minnesota municipalities. Some of the grants resulted in events - such as next weekend's street fair and car show - while others led to art activities or installations, including the large tree trunk flower pots outside businesses along Avenue C.

Back for a second summer is the Ivory Garden - located outside the Wood City Nutrition shop - an "outdoor" open piano decorated and weather-proofed by photographer and musician Krista Gardner.

Other grants are still a work in progress, but a number of new grants will kick off during the West End Flourish celebration next Saturday.

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Street fair set for Sept. 24

Look inside this special Pine Knot EXTRA section to learn more about the West End Flourish celebration from 11 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. It’s a multipurpose daylong affair: think block party mixed with art fair and car show. Come down for kids’ activities, shopping, food trucks or just to get to know your local businesses better. Free, family-friendly and fun for everyone. Stop by the Pine Knot office at 122 Avenue C and check out our art gallery while you’re there.

Vendors, come and join the party! Nearly 50 businesses have committed to taking part and entries are welcome through Thursday, Sept. 22. Contact Ivan at [email protected] or stop by 122 Avenue C.