St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center Investing in the Duluth Depot Location: 506 W. Michigan Street, Duluth, MN 55802 11/27/18 Depot Commitment St. Louis County is demonstrating a recommitment to preserving and promoting the region’s history, arts and culture at the Depot. Overview— Depot Significance and History Depot Subcommittee Formation & Work Tenant Outreach Proposed Model Next Steps & Desired Outcomes 2 State-Wide & Regional Significance of Depot Represents a collaborative effort between the citizens of St. Louis County and county government to form a regional cultural and arts center out of an abandoned railroad depot Is on the National Register of Historic Places Has been identified as a potential Northern Lights Express (NLX) station Houses one of the oldest historical societies in the state—known for its extensive Native American and manuscript collections Has a notable collection of historic iron horses (trains/engines), including: o William Crooks—Minnesota’s first steam locomotive (during Civil War era) o 1870 Minnetonka—worked the historic transcontinental line o Giant Missabe Road Mallet 227—one of the world’s largest and most powerful steam locomotives o Northern Pacific Rotary Snowplow No. 2—constructed in 1887, making it the oldest plow of its type in existence (a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark) Viewed as a stimulant to area tourism—a hub of history, culture and arts 3 Depot History 1892: Duluth Union Depot 1977-1985: Served Amtrak’s built—serving 7 rail lines, Arrowhead (Minneapolis-Duluth) and accommodating 5,000 passengers North Star (Chicago-Duluth) lines 2017: St. Louis County and 50+ trains per day requests $5.75M for 1999: Veterans’ Memorial critical repairs 1971: Depot placed on the National Hall established Register of Historic Places 1900 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 1973: Re-opened as the St. Louis County Heritage 2018: St. and Arts Center, housing the Duluth Art Institute, Louis County 1969: Last train; Depot slated for Lake Superior Railroad Museum, St. Louis County forms Depot demolition, but is saved by the Historical Society, & performing arts Subcommittee citizens of Duluth organizations For more information, go to: http://duluthdepot.org/ 4 Depot Subcommittee Formation: At its 2018 organizational meeting, the St. Louis County Board established a Depot subcommittee, consisting of representation from the County Board, and staff of both St. Louis County and the City of Duluth, to review the operations of the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center (the Depot). The goal of the subcommittee was to identify a model that can be implemented to assist with the future operation and long term success of the facility. Members of the Subcommittee: Commissioner Patrick Boyle (St. Louis County - Chair of subcommittee) Commissioner Frank Jewell (St. Louis County) Commissioner Mike Jugovich (St. Louis County) Brian Fritsinger, Deputy County Administrator (St. Louis County) Tony Mancuso, Property Management Director (St. Louis County) Pete Miller, Capital Planning Manager (St. Louis County) BreAnn Graber, Budget & Business Improvement Manager (St. Louis County) Erik Birkeland, Property & Facilities Manager (City of Duluth) Alternate: Commissioner Beth Olson (St. Louis County) 5 Current Depot Model St. Louis County (SLC)— • Owns the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center (the Depot) • Contracts with Oneida Realty for management services, cleaning services, engineering services, and visitor services (front desk staff) o Oneida’s program director is partially supported financially by Oneida Realty and the other portion ($30k) is supported financially by Historic Union Depot Incorporated (HUDC) through its partial use of the City of Duluth Tourism Tax dollars City of Duluth (Tourism Tax)— • Has allocated approximately $220k in Tourism Tax dollars each year to the Historic Union Depot Incorporated (HUDC), led by Executive Director Ken Buehler o Ken Buehler is also the director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and North Shore Scenic Railroad; JoAnne Coombe of the SLC Historical Society serves as the Participating Member Organization representative on the HUDC Board Depot Foundation— • Is an independent 501c3 organization, which does not have space within the Depot • Mission is to preserve the Historic Union Depot as a vibrant and welcoming forum for the arts, culture and history; it raises funds and offers tenants grant opportunities (or supports activities within the building) Depot Tenants— • Current tenants of the Depot include: Arrowhead Chorale, Minnesota Ballet, The Duluth Playhouse (including The Underground), the Duluth Art Institute, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, and the St. Louis County (SLC) Historical Society; each tenant of the building operates under its own Board of Directors • Tenants currently pay between $1.22 to $4.40 per square foot 6 Hub of History, Culture & Arts Current Tenants… The St. Louis County Historical Society maintains Veterans’ Memorial Hall, a tribute to those who served—dating back to the Civil War. USA Today voted the Lake Superior Railroad Museum the “BEST Transportation Museum in America.” Three galleries celebrate the work of local artists by the Duluth Art Institute. Dance is art and beauty, as created by the Minnesota Ballet in the Depot. Also home to: The Duluth Playhouse is the oldest, continuous community theatre in the country. 7 Tenant Outreach Since January 2018, the Depot subcommittee has been gathering information and facts related to the history of the facility’s operations, including meeting with the executive director and at least one Board member from each tenant of the facility. The agenda for these meetings was outlined as follows: Purpose: To gather information from tenants and Board representatives regarding facility needs and strategic direction of the Depot. Introductions Depot Subcommittee provides brief history of the Depot’s function and management Tenants and Board members have an opportunity to: • Discuss what is working well and what could be improved—voicing any concerns they have about the operation, maintenance and configuration of the facility • Explain how they feel their organization serves the broader purpose of the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center • Provide input in regards to what their organization believes the future vision (and/or strategic direction) should be for the Depot Note: These sessions with tenants and representatives from their Board of Directors served as an opportunity for the Depot Subcommittee to hear directly from each organization within the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center regarding their operational and space needs. It also gave the subcommittee an opportunity to share the history of the Depot to provide some context on how the ownership and operation came to be what it is in 2018. 8 Tenant Observations There seemed to be consensus among the current tenants of the Depot about the following: . The current operating model is not working well; there’s a lack of structure . Lease agreements should be made between St. Louis County and each tenant . There needs to be more transparency in finances and decision making . Strategic direction needs to be established and communicated . Tenants want to ensure they will continue to qualify for grants through the Depot Foundation . The St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center (Depot) is a special historic building that needs to be properly maintained . Tenants would appreciate lower rental rates . There is a need for better wayfinding . Tenants think there could be a more welcoming reception area . Tenants are confused as to who has authority to do what—particularly whether the HUDC marketing person or the Oneida marketing person has final decision authority . There should be an assessment done of the current use of space 9 Research Studies & Statutes: The subcommittee reviewed various studies and visioning sessions regarding the Depot, and researched a number of legal and statutory references made by tenants of the facility. Minnesota Statute makes several references to the broad authorizations that counties have to work with certain legal organizations, several of which are tenants of the Depot. No Legal Obligations: The County Board has taken a number of actions over the years in support of its tenants. However, there is no specific legal language found that either obligated or required the County to provide certain services to these tenants indefinitely or at all. The County has broad flexibility to address the tenant make up, tenant space allocations, rents, financial allocations and other items as it deems appropriate. Space Utilization: During this process, the subcommittee also engaged the architectural firm DSGW to assist with design questions related to existing space utilization within the Depot. The specific breakdown of square footage is being reviewed by St. Louis County and will be shared with tenants to ensure rental charges align with space usage. 10 Proposals The Subcommittee took into consideration the following proposals: Request from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum to find space for a large model train set that is to be donated to the Museum Status— The Depot Subcommittee supports the continued investigation into methods for accommodating the model train set St. Louis County asked DSGW to develop cost estimates to potentially place the model train within the facility. However, due to financial constraints, alternative options which would most likely require the reallocation of space are