DULUTH — One of Lincoln Park’s fiercest champions will be memorialized with the dedication of a stone pavilion in a neighborhood park of the same name.
Last week, Duluth city councilors unanimously agreed that a local landmark built on the south end of Lincoln Park by the Works Progress Administration should be named in honor of their former colleague, Renee Van Nett, who represented the city’s 4th District until her death to cancer on June 3, 2022. Dinosaur Sculpture
Van Nett, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, was elected to city office twice and in 2021 became the first Indigenous person chosen by her peers to serve as Duluth council president.
Hannah Alstead was selected by councilors to serve in place of Van Nett, who she considered a close friend.
Reflecting on the pending dedication, she said: “I want everyone to know, this has been a tough year without her. And this is really something incredible we are able to do in her name.”
A tearful Alstead credited Terese Tomanek, an at large councilor, for bringing the dedication proposal forward. Other co-sponsors included Alstead, Arik Forsman and Council President Janet Kennedy.
Tomanek said she wanted to pay tribute to Van Nett, whom she considered a mentor, and at first inquired about naming a city street after her. Then someone in city administration suggested the pavilion as an alternative.
"It's more lasting. It's more visible. Plus, it's just a solid structure. And Renee was a solid woman, a solid city councilor and a solid leader. It all just made sense," Tomanek said.
Councilor Forsman said he will reserve his comments until the dedication of the pavilion in the future, but prior to a Monday resolution vote said, “It is an honor and privilege to vote for this.”
The importance of Lincoln Park to the neighborhood is evidenced by its very nomenclature, observed Jodi Slick, founder and CEO of Ecolibrium 3.
She noted that the neighborhood originally was known as West End but was later rebranded as Lincoln Park.
"That was really done because Lincoln Park was considered the jewel and the heart of the neighborhood," Slick said.
Slick said she also finds it oddly appropriate to have the pavilion dedicated to the memory of a local leader of Indigenous descent inside a park named after Abraham Lincoln, who served as president at the time of the largest mass execution in our nation's history: the 1862 hanging of 38 Dakota men in Mankato.
"I also think it's a nice counterbalance to recognize that, as a neighborhood, we are on Indigenous land," Slick said.
The stone pavilion is being restored as part of a $2.1 million major upgrade of the park that’s still in progress. The structure and its restrooms were closed to the public in 2014 after being damaged by a fire, determined to have been a case of arson.
While taking care to maintain the historic value of the pavilion, it has been updated to make it more accessible for people with disabilities.
Improvements to the park continue and parts of it remain closed to the public. But Senior Parks Planner Cliff Knettel said work is proceeding on schedule, and he expects the park will be fully reopened by Sept. 30.
In addition to restoring the pavilion, the project will bring new landscaping to the park; walkways and lighting will be improved; a new basketball court will be constructed on the upper terrace; the playground and picnic areas will be expanded and reconfigured; Lincoln Park Drive will be stabilized and repaved; and new parking lots will be installed.
Established in 1896, Lincoln Park is one of Duluth’s oldest city parks. It is 35 acres in size and Miller Creek courses through it, forming a dramatic rocky ravine.
Once public restrooms are restored to the park, Slick said it may return to its days as a popular public event venue. Until 1949, Lincoln Park annually hosted a well-attended Midsummer Festival.
Sexy Statues This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. Friday, July 28, with a comment from Councilor Terese Tomanek. It was originally published at 11:13 a.m. the same day.