Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing: A Visit with David Schafroth of North Shore YIMBY

Urban housing, very different from
Minnesota's North Shore housing.

The housing crisis is no longer a problem isolated to big cities; it’s a reality creeping into smaller communities, even here along the shores of Lake Superior. Businesses can’t find workers because workers can’t find homes. Families struggle to stay in neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations. Young professionals, eager to build their lives, are forced to settle elsewhere due to the lack of affordable options.

The YIMBY movement’s focus on cutting through restrictive zoning laws, streamlining permitting processes, and advocating for higher-density developments aligns with what many of our communities need. By opening doors to new housing solutions, YIMBY champions the idea that growth is not a threat—it’s an opportunity. Addressing these barriers is not just about putting roofs over people’s heads; it’s about creating vibrant, sustainable communities where everyone can thrive.

I met David Schafroth in eary 2022 while doing research for an article on affordable housing. With a passion for housing, and a wealth of knowledge about housing issues, it was no surprise to recently learn of his advocacy for YIMBY, a national pro-housing social movement that is focused on encouraging new housing, opposing housing density limits and supporting public transportation.

As the name suggests, the acronym YIMBY stands for Yes In My Back Yard, taking a stance against the truckloads of red tape strangling the housing market.

Though YIMBY is not without its critics, from where I sit YIMBY is addressing the right issues with uncommon common sense. Read the interview and tell us what you think by leavong a comment.

EN: You are trying to set up a local chapter of a national group that’s striving to address homelessness. What is the name of the national organization?

 

David Schafroth: North Shore YIMBY (NSY) is a group of neighbors from Northeastern Minnesota advocating for abundant, affordable housing and inclusive, sustainable neighborhoods. We're a chapter of YIMBY Action, a national pro-housing nonprofit that works with activists across the country to pass high-impact pro-housing legislation, elect pro-housing candidates, and get more housing built.

 

EN: What is the scope of your local chapter?

 

DS: NSY is focused on helping achieve housing abundance in Cook, Lake, St. Louis, and Carlton Counties. Our efforts are twofold: One, we help advocate on behalf of particular projects, and two, we advocate for pro-housing policy reforms at the local and state level.

 

EN: What is the current status?

 

DS: NSY is operational in its advocacy work. If you’re looking to build in NE MN and would like neighbors to advocate on your behalf, contact us at hello@northshoreyimby.org.

 

EN: What makes homelessness such a challenge problem to eliminate?

DS: I view this as more of a political question than a policy question. On the policy side, the evidence is clear and overwhelming: there are plenty of policies that reduce the frequency, rate, and intensity at which individuals are priced out of housing and priced into homelessness. Homelessness is the result of the demand to live in an area exceeding the supply of places where individuals are permitted to live in an area. When the demand to be housed in an area exceeds the supply of places to be housed, the price of housing trends upwards. When rents go up, rates at which homelessness is experienced go up as well. Supply and demand is a fundamental law of economics which is as true to Duluth's present housing market as it was when Adam Smith wrote on rent and housing in 'The Wealth of Nations'.

 

The most cost-optimal policies are those which remove and reform the regulatory barriers which inhibit new housing construction within a jurisdiction. The question is whether political will exists to implement such policies.

 

Unfortunately, the political environment of Duluth seems more concerned with ensuring that only the right housing is built for the right people in the right places in the right ways than it is with seeing more housing built in Duluth. The only person who gets fired when rates of homelessness go up in Duluth is the Mayor. There's no incentive for staff in the Planning Department, the department tasked with overseeing the policies controlling who can build what, where, and how in Duluth, no incentive to remove barriers and improve the processes governing housing development in Duluth.

 

There is plenty of Federal funding available to municipalities that want to reform their processes and remove barriers to housing development. Earlier this fall, the City of Duluth applied for HUD's Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO) for Housing Grant. The PRO Housing grant funds "streamlining permitting processes and expanding by-right development" and "reducing barriers to development such as residential property height limitations, off-street parking requirements, density restrictions, and minimum lot sizes".

The City of Duluth's application proposes to implement neither of these; it identifies a lack of funds available for public housing construction by the City of Duluth as the greatest barrier to housing construction in Duluth. That tells me that staff in the City of Duluth's Planning Department think that the only way to address homelessness in Duluth is to try throwing more money at the issue, and hope that this time the outcome will be different from all the other times Duluth has tried throwing more money at the issue.

 

For instance, Duluth's PRO Housing grant application discusses duplexes in Duluth in glowing terms. Just don't ask the City of Duluth how many lots exist served by existing infrastructure where it's legal to build duplexes by-right. I asked that exact question to the Planning Department earlier this summer -- they had no response, and refused to respond to further inquiries when pressed on why that was.

 

I don't see the Planning Department as having the culture necessary to tackle the root cause of homelessness within Duluth. I see the Planning Department as having a culture that prioritizes office politics over seeing more housing built in Duluth. Changing an organizational culture requires political leadership, and frankly, I don't see Duluth as having the political leadership necessary to tackle the root cause of homelessness within our community: the mismatch between the supply of housing permitted to be built in Duluth and the demand to live in Duluth.

 

EN: What people or events motivated you to become so passionate about this issue?

 

DS: Our members come from a diverse range of backgrounds, life experiences, and professions. What unites us is our acceptance that the cost of housing is governed by the economic laws of supply and demand.

 

I moved to Duluth 8 years ago. Every year, without fail, my rent has gone up. There is no denying that Duluth has a shortage of housing units available relative to the demand to live in Duluth. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to afford to live in Duluth. It's the same for a lot of members of our organization.

Every week, I hear a new horror story about someone trying to do the right thing for the community and all the barriers they encounter. It's well past time that someone began to speak up for all Duluthians, including the future Duluthians that will need somewhere to live in our community.

EdNote: As an afterward David sent this follow-up:

PS - I'm not sure if I mentioned it, I recently went down to UMN's School of Architect & Design to present as a subject matter expert on the interaction between policy, process, and American starter home production. I have to say that I am inspired at some of the conversations which the next generation of architectural practitioners are having--definitely a break from the "traditional" schools of architecture.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Potholes In Paradise

Potholes in West Duluth

Duluth is a beautiful part of the world. If you have any doubts, check out the website Destination Duluth. Lake Superior must be the 8th Wonder of the World, and the manner in which the communities encircle it--from its southernmost tip up the North Shore into Canada and across to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and back around the horn to the South Shore across Wisconsin--is something to behold. 

Throughout the year photographers are out capturing the region's natural beauty. Examples abound. John Heino is a friend whose work is always dazzling. You can find him on Facebook or  see his gallery at https://johnheino.smugmug.com/  Dennis O'Hara's is another photographer doing interesting work. He now has 16 live cameras providing visual delights 24/7. A few are up the North Shore, though most down here around the harbors. Here's the website where you can watch live as ships come and go, as sunrises and sunsets dazzle along with the occasional spectacle seldom seen further south: our periodic though often bashful Northern Lights. (see: DuluthHarborcam.com)

If you're driving here from out of town, do pay attention to the roads. We have weather that is unkind to asphalt and it's a little dangerous if you're not paying attention.

Superior Street from 23rd to 27th

When I got out of my car to look at this one, a man in a pickup

opened his window to ask, "Are you looking for your Volkswagen?"

This one was much deeper than it looks.

Yes, this is what some of our side streets look like

I'm curious what the neighbors think about this.
Maybe they like it because it keeps the speeders away?

AI interpretation of one of my pothole photos.
I found two cats and a little boy living in this one.*

* * * * 

*Just kidding.

Community Mural Underway in the Lincoln Park District

North Shore Scenic Highway 61 (Gary Firstenberg photo)

A number of years ago I took a tour of St. Petersburg with an eye to taking in all the murals that decorate the walls of the city's Warehouse District. It was inspiring, and even though I felt it a little unfair that their muralists can paint year-'round, I felt proud of how much public art there is here in the Twin Ports, with more being added annually.

This month I saw a mural underway in Two Harbors that passersby will take delight in soon. Did you know that 4 million cars a year pass through Two Harbors heading up the North Shore to our various park or further on to Thunder Bay and back? I also learned there's going to be a new mural added to the Historic Duluth Armory sometime soon.

My aim here is to showcase the new mural being painted on a wall of the community resource center in the West End. The project design and execution is being spearheaded by lead artists Moira Villiard of the Fond du Lac tribe and Red Cliff artist Michelle DeFoe. Besides adding still more brilliance to the ever evolving Lincoln Park District, the mural itself is has a great story to go with it.

In addition to utilizing Anishinaabe symbolism to provide insight into some of the city's Indigenous history, a portion of the mural will incorporate designs submitted online to Villiard by youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lincoln Park Resource Center, 2024 West 3rd Street

According to Villiard and DeFoe the dragonflies were largely designed by youth and are a symbol of resilience and transformation, and serve as a relevant reminder of our need today to grow and transform our lives in ways that allow us to live fully. Through cultural imagery, including a hand holding asemaa and references to wild rice, the mural also serves as a reminder that even in uncertain times, we shouldn't forget the stories of the land we reside on and the people who were the first stewards of Turtle Island.

Several youth groups have also participated in the early painting stages of the mural, including a youth group from the Steve O’Neil apartment building. Social distancing has been important throughout.

Dragonflies (detail)

This project was funded in part through an Art Project grant by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and through a grant program awarded by the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation in partnership with the McKnight Foundation to the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) arts program (the “Art in the Present Moment” initiative).

Related Links
St. Petersburg's Warehouse Arts District: Inspiration and Lessons for the Twin Ports

Mona Lisa North Shore Drive

As we headed up the North Shore's Scenic Highway I couldn't help but think of William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive, my introduction to cyberpunk back in the late 80's. (Hence the title of this blog post.) The main character is Mona, a girl with a murky past and an uncertain future whose life is on a collision course with internationally famous Sense/Net star Angie Mitchell. In Gibson's world you go places you don't expect, with threads that unwind, sprawl and eventually return you to your own main storyline. And so it goes...

Sunday afternoon I took part in a Mona Lisa photo shoot featuring Ramona M in front of the lens, under shooter Dan Pugleasa's adept direction. As in Gibson's thrill-ride there's an international character in the story, and ours was Umm-e-Kulsoom, a young woman here in the States as part of a July exchange program involving journalists from Pakistan.

Umme from Pakistan played a role in the saga.

There are some people who will rush off and do an adventure with less thought then they would give to crossing the street. I used to be that way. Because I’ve become less inclined to impulsiveness over the years, perhaps making me a little stale, I accepted this invitation to tag along and write about this Mona Lisa photo shoot, Ramona Marozas modeling the iconic subject who appears in DaVinci's painting. Dan Pugleasa -- Less Traveled Photography -- believed he'd found the perfect location. As in brick-and-mortar retail selling, photographers also have a "location, location, location" mantra running through their heads.

The scene he envisioned turned out to be a secluded point where the Sucker River spills languidly into Lake Superior just North of the New Scenic Cafe. The privately owned waterfront property welcomed us warmly, as did its owner who was giving his dog a workout by flinging a toy out into the lake at regular intervals. As it turns out, he himself had been to Pakistan in recent years on international business.

Warm, but not yet mysterious.

After a short exchange, Dan, Umme and our Mona Lisa scoped out setting, selected a backdrop and proceeded to get down to business. It was something of a play in three acts. In the first act, Dan focused on capturing the Mona Lisa reproduction. Mona had come dressed for the part, wearing a crown of flowers. She had clearly been practicing "the look" and getting the hands lined up right, fingers laced over the wrist just so. The DaVinci Mona Lisa did not have one of her hands decorated with Henna, but no matter. It was not a detraction.

It was apparent Ramona had been working on how to capture the mystery in her expression. It was as if she were disengaging herself from herself on the inside, becoming removed from herself as it were, the grey-blue eyes becoming distant, perhaps lost in time while Pugleasa's camera clicked and snapped.

The second act took place in the lake itself, as both cameraman and model became immersed out by an outcropping of rock thirty yards from the shore. Act three involved our Pakistani guest who with great enthusiasm took control of the camera, directing her subject into various postures and positions.

Lining up the money shot.

After a timeless interlude, the four of us hiked back through the forest and up the trail to the car, soon heading back into town. As in William Gibson's story, the Mona Lisa will be jacked into cyberspace... to be enjoyed by fans in her new iteration.

Here are a few of the shots that were captured... each a story.

As long as we're being capricious, whimsical and wry, we might as well close out with a poem about that chimerical smile and the look mirrored in her eye. 

Mona Lisa Smile

She has a mysterious smile

Folks wonder what it means
It’s been written in the text books
And envisioned in some dreams

Nat King Cole crooned a song
About Mona Lisa’s smile
Folks have wondered curiously
And studied her awhile

Did she smile because of love?
That wistful little grin
A thought perhaps in her mind
As she remembered him?

Did her face appear in a dream
Her talented artist had one night?
Or was it, in fact, the face of the man
Who sketched his own mirrored sight?

Of course no one will ever know
The true story of the smile
But it’s great fun, don’t you think?
For she truly could beguile!
Marilyn Lott

EdNote: For the record, only the three high caliber photos at the end are Dan's. I can only take credit for the inferior work that precedes it.

Local Art Scene: Autumn Art Happenings in the Northland

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

Snapshots @ the Red Mug

Tonight there's a reception for artist Carla Hamilton's new show Snapshots @ the Red Mug Coffeehouse from 5 to 7 p.m. "Snapshots" is s show about emotions. Each piece is a portrait of the life span of an emotion, emotions felt in the now and past. Primarily mixed media, the works are layered with the residual effects of emotions, coloring the future. I've enjoyed following her career since her return from 18 years in Germany.

Radiant Spirit Gallery is hosting a new exhibit, Canoescapes, at Perk Place Coffeehouse (1336 W Arrowhead Rd), on view Aug 22- October 31. The exhibit features canoe-themed photographs by Gary Fiedler and Dawn LaPointe.

Saturday September 10 is the Cornucopia Art Crawl, featuring local South Shore artists, displaying work in many mediums, and a lovely venue. Cornucopia is located on Siskiwit Bay, a little over an hour from Duluth on Wisconsin Scenic Highway 13.

The Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Art Tour takes place September 23 - 25, 10 AM - 6 PM daily. Enjoy the splendor of the North Shore while discovering glass, ceramics, woodwork, painting, printmaking, jewelry, sculpture, and photography with demos, tours and sales. You can find a map at their website.

Another scenic drive along the shore, anytime from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2 from 10 AM - 6 PM daily, brings the Crossing Borders North Shore Autumn Studio Tour-- now celebrating its 20th year. Featuring local and out-of-town guest speakers, the event highlights art galleries from Two Harbors up to Grand Portage.

A two-day Raku Rendezvous will take place in New London, MN, Oct. 8 & 9. The rendezvous functions as a workshop for potters of all skill levels, complete with demonstrations by Steve Hemingway, Richard & Carrin Gruchalla, Tom & Wanda Clarke, and Craig Edwards. To register: https://squareup.com/store/a-thousand-cranes

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More Happenings, Courtesy E.P.

Esther Piszczek's show this summer at Zeitgeist Arts was an enormous success. Nearly every seat in the house was filled at the Zuccone and even more peope passed through the Atrium. Her 17-minute art documentary Life & Art Entangled featuring a 1977 Krakauer piano covered in Zentangle(R) inspired art, jazz pianist Peter Brown, and her story of moving from practicing attorney to artist, is now available to view on Youtube and LolaVisuals.com.

Friday, September 9, 6-8:00 p.m., 2nd Friday Art Crawl, Duluth Fine Pianos, 405 E. Superior Street Zentangle (R) Inspired Art by Esther Piszczek, CZT, including the patterned upright piano featured in Lola Visual's art documentary Life & Art Entangled. Free parking available behind the building after 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 10, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Hermantown Harvest Fest put on by the Hermantown Historical Society, 5255 Maple Grove Road, Hermantown This is a fun, family friendly event with food and craft vendors, children's activities and historical exhibits.

For the Little Ones: Face Painting, Hay Wagon Rides, Miniature Train Rides, Simek Farm’s Pumpkin Maze, Petting Farm Animals, Baby Pumpkin paintings For the History Seekers: New displays featuring the Fire of 1918, Hermantown School staff, Collection of Barber’s blades, Genealogy & family history, WWI uniform.

Musicians: Beaconaires: 9-10:30 a.m.; Ripple Effect: 10:45 -11:30 a.m.; Neil Witikko’s Glenwood Guys: 11:45 a.m. -12:45 p.m.: Jim Grussendorf and Company: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.; Just Friends from Esko: 2:45 - 3:45 p.m.

Admission is still only $5.00 for a family; $2.00 for an adult; $1.00 for youths from 6 to 18; under 5 – Free. For more information, call 729-8058 or 624-3040.

Saturday, September 10, 10 a.m.-4 p.m, Harvest Festival at Bayfront Park Farmer's Market, Food and Artisan vendors, energy fair, education and family activities. And it's FREE! Another wonderful family friendly event!

Saturday, September 17, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Chester Bowl Fall Fest, "Suggested donations of $5 per person or $10 per family will be accepted at the entrance to support Chester winter program scholarships for kids in need who want to participate in winter sports. Donations last year totaled about $7000 and the goal is to surpass this amount." See link for information on shuttle buses running from UMD. RAIN DATE: Sunday, September 18 Musical Lineup: 10:00-11:30 a.m. Greg Tiburzi; 12:00-1:30 p.m. the Fish Heads; 2:00-3:30 p.m. Mama’s Stolen Horses

Friday, September 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m., "Art for Ed's Sake" Fundraiser for Duluth Public School programs, Zietgeist Arts, 222 E. Superior Street Music by Georgeanne Hunter- harpist. Food from local restaurants. Silent Auction Suggested donation: $25 per person.

Saturday, September 24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Lester River Rendezvous, Lester Park, Corner of Lester River Road and Superior Street in Lakeside "A living history attraction devoted to reliving the days of the fur trade." "Voyageur Village - Arts & Crafts - Live Music - Food" RAIN DATE: Sunday, September 25.

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Public Events in Trepanier Hall

Indigenous Beadwork Gathering - Beadwork artists and enthusiasts welcome! Artists from the Ecuadorian cooperative, Las Mujeres de Teresa de Calcuta will be present alongside Anishinaabe beaders from our region.
Thursday, September 8, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.:

Monday, September 12: Art from AICHO youth goes on display

Thursday, September 15, 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Making Waves: Grassroots of Feminism in Duluth & Superior - talk and book signing by Beth Bartlett. Music by the Oshkii Gizhik Singers.

Friday, September 16, 8:30 p.m.: Full Moon Ceremony

Thursday, September 22, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: Grant-writing workshop hosted by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (tentative time)

Thursday, September 22, 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Loaves & Fishes: Homeless Bill of Rights Meeting

Friday, September 23: AICHO Youth Digital Storytelling Exhibit public reception (tentative date)

Thursday, September 29, 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.: Duluth Indigenous Commission Annual Feast

Friday, September 30, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Ann Dunn & Annie Humphrey Concert

AA and NA Meetings with Frank Goodwin are scheduled every Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

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William Cullen Bryant called autumn "the year's last, loveliest smile." May the season bring you a pocketful of smiles as well. 

Blood On The Tracks Express Is Ready To Roll

The Freewheelers know how to get people on their feet.

Another year of North Country Dylan-themed events is wrapping up tonight. It's the Blood on the Tracks Express, leaving the station in less than eleven hours as I write this.

If you're wondering why the event got drop-kicked away from the rest of our Dylan Days events, it's because the bridge to Two Harbors has been under repair. According to the schedule it appeared that the train ride could not happen last week but the work would be completed for this week. Haha. Wrong. The weather got the better of everyone's plans and the famous North Shore train ride to Two Harbors is taking a detour. The music will remain grand.

The train will be leaving the station at 5:30 this evening. More than 200 tickets have been sold and today's Trib story will probably bring us even more. The DNT's Wave describes the event like this:

The train will travel in a Duluth-based loop then stop at the Depot for music at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. The lineup of musicians is a sort of “We are the World” of local players, including Black-Eyed Snakes, Freewheelers, Dirty Horse, Red Mountain, Cowboy Angel Blue, Bitter Spills and the Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank.

The word "loop" is probably a misnomer as I do not believe we have any tracks in this area that actually go in a circle. But the effect will be the same for the travellers. There will be music at both ends of the train as in years past, acoustic at one end and electric at the other, a bar car in between. The train will go North till it can't go any further, then South for a spell. Eventually everyone will de-board at The Depot for a party there, most likely featuring The Freewheelers. After the party it's back to the train for another tour up and down the line.

Last year Sparhawk and company projected such a mesmerizing psycho-syllabic bannister of sound that the train car nearly splintered apart... Tickets are $25.... and it all begins at Fitgers.

Local Art Seen: Have You Been Buying Local This Year?

Ceramic bowls and plates make great practical gifts.

The weekends leading up to Christmas are often the most complained about shopping days of the year. The stores get taken over by roving mobs of shoppers, parking lots are jammed and the lines long. This Norman Rockwell picture pretty much captures the spirit.

But guess what? There are plenty of alternatives to this madness. One of them is to not procrastinate. Start your Christmas shopping in June. Another is to do what my grandmother did... She started her knitting projects in January, making hats and sweaters and afghans for her numerous grandchildren. A third, this one being the theme for today, is to look for all those special gatherings of artists who have wares that might can fill the bill... or the stocking.

Zentangle-inspired Art Cards by Esther Piszczek

In a culture of mass production, doesn't it seem weird to get gifts that are "in" and make you feel "unique just like everybody else"? Now I don't begrudge getting gifts from big box retailers per se, but there's something to be said about receiving those fascinating kinds of things being produced by local craftspeople, artists, jewlers, and glass blowers.

Kenspeckle Letterpress

Here are some things I saw this past two weekends. I'm sure your community has similar places where creative expression flourishes. Ceramic mugs and bowls make wonderful gifts because they can be appreciated and used for a lifetime. The Northland has more ceramic artists than one can count, it seems, and each has his or her special style. The photo at the top of the page is from Karin Kraemer's cheerful studio in Superior's historic Board of Trade at the corner of Broadway & Hammond.

The whole building was open this weekend, meaning that all the artists who have studios there also had their doors open including painter Terry Millikan, fabric artist Erika Mock and the Mud Sisters, who also have a great variety of practical ceramic arts.

North Shore-O-Poly

Last weekend I came across the inventive Brian Minor's game North Shore-O-Poly. It's a Northland rendition of the classic board game featuring the streets and business of Atlantic City, except in this case the places are all those familiar sights and spaces on our North Shore, from Split Rock Lighthouse to the Gunflint Trail. The project seems to be a family affair, as is any good game.

Speaking of games, Esther Piszczek -- who has applied her drawings to T-shirts, calendars and gift cards -- has now produced several decks of playing cards which are, like, way cool.

Yesterday I found out that Marian Lasky and Rick Allen -- The Kenspeckle Letterpress team -- have been residing on the second floor of the DeWitt Seitz Building in Canal Park. I'd been doing occasional walk-throughs of Sivi's Art Gallery nearby to see their stuff, and now realize I need to take time to get down here to Canal Park's other spaces more often.


Another interesting space in the DeWitt Seitz Building is Mary Reichart's fiber arts space called Otlak on the 4th floor. Reichart, who works with felt, learned some of her techniques by observing locals during a stay in Kyrgyzstan.

Other things you'll find include cookies, candies, jellies and jams, all made locally and with love. Really. And of course there's the wall art that I'm so frequently writing about. You can appreciate it for five minutes in a gallery, or for the rest of your life in your living room. I'm not making that up.

Bottom line: Have you been buying local this year? Start collecting. 

Ice Bar Makes a Novel Impression

People with out-of-the-way businesses occasionally have to get creative in order to keep the cash registers ringing. Many seasonal businesses get shuttered in the off season, just because heat and staffing is such an expense. Needless to say, the Grand Superior Lodge at Castle Danger went a different route this winter.

When the story broke in the Duluth News Tribune, it created oodles of buzz. A front page story and big photo declaring "Ice bar opens at North Shore lodge." The sub-title pegged the details: Blu opened for its first customers at 2 p.m. to celebrate the winter solstice. The article went on to describe shot glasses made of ice and even a couch.

So yesterday we decided to head north. Despite the below-zero temps, it was a beautiful drive up the North Shore, the lake a deep blue, the crisp sun glistening on the snow-sprinkled trees. On the way we wondered things like whether the bar would have a bathroom. We imagined an actual building made of ice.

If you go to enough fancy parties you will sooner or later see company logos carved in ice, or a fancy "ice luge" into which the bartender pours your drink at the top and it comes out chilled at the bottom. Some of these decorations can get mighty spectacular and Chris Swarbick, the designer of Blu at Grand Superior Lodge has the gift. His business, Ice Occasions, specializes in exceeding expectations when it comes to customized ice decor.

Castle Danger is in the vicinity of Gooseberry Falls, so you can get a rough idea how much of the afternoon you will be chewing up to get there and back. Since anticipation provides one-third of the pleasure of most experiences, we got our money's worth on the drive up. When we arrived, the lodge parking lot was crammed and jammed. On the right, as you pull in, there was a little tent. One of us said, "Is that it?" and you can tell by this question what our first impressions were.

Maybe the tent/bar looks small because Grand Superior Lodge is so large. And since I'd heard someone compare it to the Ice Palace in St. Paul, I somewhat expected a building made of ice. I must have mis-heard because upon further investigation I see from Swarbick's website that he won the St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Sculpting Competition three of the last four years. The bar is a masterpiece, even if it isn't a whole building of ice.

I saw no one complaining inside. Patrons were standing three and four deep waiting to place their orders. The busy bartending staff were cheerful and good-natured. And even though the drink selection was limited (they can't lock up at night, nor can they leave cans of pineapple juice outside in twenty-below weather) and there were no chairs, the atmosphere was lively. Yes, there was that couch which the newspaper story mentioned... a block of ice with a bearskin draped across it. No pillows.

Someone there explained that Blu will remain open till sometime in February. If you want to check it out, it's only open on Saturday afternoons from 2 till 6 p.m. Can't make it then? You can see more of Chris Swarbrick's craftsmanship-in-ice at his website, His work is pretty cool.

As for our own trip to the ice bar, upon reflection, it was fun.... and something memorable to talk about.