Duluth Launches Public Input Process for 270-Acre Former Lester Park Golf Course

The City of Duluth has kicked off a comprehensive land-use study for the roughly 270-acre former Lester Park Golf Course, closed in 2020, to weigh preservation, recreation, and housing options for one of the city's largest public parcels. "We’re at the beginning of a land-use study, and we want to make sure we balance natural-resource preservation with recreation opportunities and housing," said Jenn Moses, Planning Manager for the City of Duluth.

The study was requested by Duluth City Council in an October 2025 resolution and is being guided by a cross-departmental city team that includes planning, economic development, engineering, parks and recreation, and natural resources staff. Consultant Bolton and Menk is leading the technical work on the comprehensive land-use study and will coordinate analyses of environmental and development potential across the site.

Public engagement is central to the months-long process. City officials held an open house described as "the first formal opportunity for the public to weigh in" and have posted an online survey and project website to gather further input. The in-person open house used display boards showing current site conditions, comment boards for written input, and a dot-sticker voting exercise; Moses noted, "There’s dots - little dot stickers that people can put by their favorite items - kind of like a voting exercise."

Conversations at the open house clustered around housing needs and recreational uses. Moses said, "A lot of people are talking about the concept of missing-middle housing and housing where somebody could age in place." She relayed a resident remark that captures local interest in single-level units: "If you provided one-level living, I would love to move here." Those comments reflect broader community questions about how much of the Lester Park site could support housing versus preserved open space or expanded recreation.

City staff have begun technical research to inform those land-use choices. Moses reported that staff "have been doing research on where water flows, soil types and slopes," work that will feed Bolton and Menk’s analysis of environmental constraints and development potential. The study's findings are intended to guide updates to Duluth’s comprehensive plan, the city’s long-range development blueprint.

Several procedural items remain to be finalized publicly: the city has not released a full schedule of study milestones, specific deadlines for public comment, or the project website address in the materials presented at the open house. City staff say outreach will continue through stakeholder meetings and online engagement as the consultant completes technical work. The outcome of the study will determine how the former Lester Park Golf Course — a 270-acre public asset — is shaped for recreation, habitat protection, and potential housing for Duluth’s future.