By Kelli Lautska
Park Improvements and coastal restoration work at Kitchi Gammi Park (Brighton Beach) will resume May 30.
The Brighton Beach Mini-Master Plan Update, adopted August 19, 2019, called for extension of the Lakewalk, relocation of the road away from the shoreline, and restoration of the shoreline. Brighton Beach has had repeated storm damage from Lake Superior, and it will experience future damage unless the City acts to ensure its long-term resiliency by mitigating the impacts of future events. Improvements at the park will include new park landscaping and amenities, shoreline stabilization, improved access to the shore, and replacement of non-native plant species.
Construction of park amenities and landscape restoration is anticipated to be completed by fall of 2023. During construction, the section of the newly extended Lakewalk through Brighton Beach will remain open. Users should anticipate the potential for intermittent, temporary closures for materials and equipment that may need to cross the trail. Upon completion of the park landscape restoration and improvements, the landscaped areas will be temporarily fenced to allow new turf to become established. Use of the Park will be limited to the improved pathways and the Lakewalk for several months, until the turf is well-established. Brighton Beach road construction is expected to start next summer in 2024. Due to ongoing long-term closures for construction, there will be no events, programming, or reservations allowed at Brighton Beach until, at the earliest, fall of 2024.
The memorial benches that had been placed at Brighton Beach will be removed and preserved during construction, then reinstalled towards the end of this process. Families of loved ones that are remembered with a memorial bench are asked to provide updated contact information to Allison Brooks, Parks Project Technician, at (218) 730-4304 or abrooks@duluthmn.gov, who is available to discuss bench placement options consistent with the Park designs. Park designs have incorporated space for all existing memorial benches, and no new benches will be accepted at this time.