Chester Bowl chalet set for full reconstruction and expansion

Chester Bowl is rebuilding its main lodge into a bigger, more accessible hub for the park’s ski hills, camps, concerts and year-round programming. The Thom Storm Chalet, which the city says has been the heart of Chester Park for more than 50 years, will grow from 3,330 square feet to 5,220 square feet as part of a full reconstruction and expansion backed by $2.312 million in state trust fund money.

City project materials describe the existing chalet as outdated, in disrepair, past its useful lifespan and too small for the programs Chester Bowl now runs. The new building is planned as a three-story facility instead of the current two-story structure, with additional multipurpose space, an accessible elevator, accessible restroom facilities and a viewing deck. City officials say the goal is a modern, accessible and inclusive community resource that can handle the daily mix of winter recreation and warmer-weather use.

That matters at Chester Bowl because the chalet is not just a ski shack. Through an agreement with the City of Duluth, the Chester Bowl Improvement Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1980, runs programming at the site. CBIC has managed the park since 2008 and offers ski and snowboard programs, summer and fall day camps, festivals, concerts and youth leadership development. The reconstruction is meant to support all of that at once, while preserving the site’s role as a neighborhood anchor off Skyline Parkway.

The project moved forward after the Duluth City Council authorized acceptance of the grant funds and related agreements in October 2025. Final design work was completed by LHB, and the city released a bid for a construction contractor in 2026. The work also required a shoreline variance because the chalet sits near Chester Creek, and it underwent Section 106 review because of federal funding tied to the project.

The need for that kind of long-term reinvestment reaches back through Chester Bowl’s history. The chalet was built in 1973-1974, and the landscape around it changed sharply after Chester Creek flooded in 2012, breaching two dams built in the 1920s and draining a lake once impounded upstream. Chester Bowl marked a ceremonial groundbreaking on April 20 and said it still needed to raise the final $275,000, with a goal of bringing in the first $100,000 by May 21.

Construction is on track for 2026, with completion expected by the start of ski season in December 2026. Chalet rentals are expected to resume in 2027, and Chester Bowl has said winter 2026-27 should bring ski and snowboard season into the new facility, giving one of Duluth’s most recognizable public spaces a building built for how families use it now.