Duluth council approves parking ramp demolition change order, cost tops $3 million

Duluth taxpayers are now facing a parking ramp demolition that has more than tripled in price, after city councilors voted 7-2 Monday night to approve another change order for the abandoned Shoppers Auto Park at 18 N. Second Avenue W.

The latest adjustment can add as much as $515,016, pushing the total projected cost to roughly $3.045 million. That is far above the original $967,000 demolition contract that the Duluth Economic Development Authority approved in September 2024 and awarded to Carleton Companies, Inc., the low bidder among four firms. Rachel Contracting, LLC bid $978,789, Veit & Company, Inc. bid $1,176,940, and Alliance Steel Construction, Inc. bid $1,789,000.

The ramp’s cost growth has unfolded in stages. DEDA bought the New Garrick Building and the ramp for $545,000, then approved demolition as part of a broader redevelopment strategy for downtown Duluth. On Nov. 19, 2025, DEDA approved a change order that brought the project to a new total not to exceed $2,530,414.84. The council action this week pushed the cost even higher.

The extra expense is tied in part to the ramp’s unusual connection to the 1920s-era New Garrick Building next door. City documents say the demolition requires shoring and bracing the historic structure so the ramp can come down without damaging it. The ramp itself was built onto the building in the 1950s, shuttered and condemned for habitation in 2019, and certified structurally substandard by DEDA in 2021.

The site has long been treated as more than a demolition job. In February 2025, DEDA approved an interfund loan to advance eligible redevelopment costs that could later be reimbursed through a tax-increment financing district if the expenses qualify under state law. City leaders have framed the project as a downtown redevelopment play, one meant to preserve the New Garrick while removing a failing structure that has sat as a blight on the block.

Demolition officially began on April 23, 2025, when Mayor Roger Reinert called it an “historic day.” DEDA Director Tricia Hobbs said city staff had been working on the site for nearly a decade. The latest council vote shows how expensive that effort has become, and how closely downtown parking access, redevelopment, and public trust are now tied to the price of taking the ramp down.