31-01-2025
Blatnik Bridge replacement will displace several businesses
Jan. 31—SUPERIOR — The city's northernmost waterfront is going to look different when construction gets underway to replace the Blatnik Bridge.
The iconic Quonset huts that have housed Superior Lidgerwood Mundy for the last 77 years will be gone. Halvor Logistics will move south on Grand Avenue. Those, in addition to Allstate Peterbilt Group, Twin Ports Testing, Great Lakes Electrical Equipment and the western portion of Halvor Lines will be needed for new driving lanes, exits and entrances and rights-of-way for the new bridge as the Superior side of the main structure shifts from spilling onto Hammond Avenue to turning to U.S. Highway 53.
"I would be just perfectly happy to stay here for another 50 years," said John Mahan, owner of Great Lakes Electrical Equipment.
The site of Great Lakes Electrical Equipment, 320 Baxter Ave., will become part of an exit ramp from 53 to access other businesses located north of the highway, including Benson Electric next door to the electrical supply company, and Halvor Lines.
"We did try to get Benson Electric some consideration to move, but that didn't work out," said Jason Serck, the city's economic development, port and planning director. He said ultimately, Benson Electric couldn't be justified as being part of the project.
Some businesses are further along in their relocation planning than others, Serck said.
Serck said the city is just starting to work with Allstate Peterbilt Group. A company spokesperson declined to comment at this time.
The city's Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday, Jan. 28 approved the sale of land and a development agreement for a 68,000-square-foot building in the Winter Street Industrial Park that will consolidate Superior Lidgerwood Mundy under one roof. The proposal will be considered by the Superior City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
After being notified that the company would have to move, the manufacturing and engineering company sent out a request for proposals, not only to Superior, but other cities in the region looking for property, Serck said.
"Luckily, we came out on top and that's why we're here today," Serck told the Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday.
SLMRE, a limited liability company created to own the property to lease to Superior Lidgerwood Mundy, is planning to start construction in the spring on the company's new facility on 8.2 acres near Railroad Street. Completion is expected within a year, Serck said.
The city built the street and installed water, sewer and gas infrastructure to the site more than a decade ago. But Serck said the property does have some challenges, including wetlands and clay soils, prompting the city to offer greater incentives for the $19 million project. After paying about $788,000 to purchase the land, the company will receive about $1.84 million in total incentives through annual tax increment grants based on taxes paid on the property.
"Lidgerwood has been here for a long time, and we want to keep you here," said Nick Baker, a member of the Redevelopment Authority board.
The company moved to Superior in 1946 and was incorporated in Wisconsin on Jan. 1, 1947, said Art Woodman of Superior Lidgerwood Mundy. Its origins date back to the 1860s and 1870s, before Superior Iron Works, Lidgerwood Manufacturing of New York and J.S. Mundy of New Jersey joined forces in Wisconsin in 1947.
"I couldn't be prouder of our company because of what we do and the longevity," said Kent Phillips, owner of the company. "We just finished a project for NASA where they're getting ready to land on the moon again." He said the company built the tower and hoist for NASA's simulator.
The privately held company employs more than 40 people and creates custom winches and hoists, barge haul systems, gate machinery, tow haulage and mooring systems, heavy-duty capstans, cableway systems, funicular systems and custom design equipment and systems; technology in the controls makes them safer to operate, Phillips said.
The company also has a food service side, providing dough dividing and rounding equipment, and pizza and tortilla presses, Phillips said.
"We still do stuff for the Navy and for the Coast Guard — a lot of work for the Corps of Engineers," Phillips said. He said the company's high-speed, closed-couple centrifuge pumps are made strictly for the Navy.
"We weren't thrilled about the idea of having to move — it's terrifying to have to do it — but it's also a huge opportunity for our company," Phillips said. He said it would allow employees who work in the 11 buildings across the current facility to work under one roof.
"And we're happy that it worked out that we're able to stay in Superior, " Phillips said. He said while he does anticipate interruption to the business during the transition, he's hopeful it will be limited to 30 days at most.
Mahan said he would prefer to keep his electrical supply company at 320 Baxter Ave., which offers outdoor storage and about 20,000 square feet of indoor storage.
"I have been told by the state that I have to be out by Jan. 1, 2026," Mahan said.
Mahan said he has been looking at other buildings but hasn't purchased one yet. He said he's still negotiating with the state on the purchase price for his existing business, and he won't know how much money he has to work with until those negotiations conclude.
"I would just as soon stay in Superior," Mahan said. He said his preference is to relocate somewhere north of 28th Street and east of Tower Avenue or in North End.
Mahan said he thought the city and Development Association would be more helpful in the process.
"I believe the mayor made a statement at one time that he was going to make sure that they retained all the businesses, or they wanted to maintain all the businesses that were displaced by the bridge," Mahan said. "Well, he sure hasn't made an effort."
Mahan said the city did offer some land available near Lakehead Constructors, 3801 Winter St., but it's not where he wants to go.
"It would destroy my business," he said of the location on the west side of the Winter Street Industrial Park. "Would you put a restaurant down there? Would you put a gas station down there? ... We're a service business so people would have to find us."
In addition to selling electrical supplies, Mahan said he runs his real estate business out of the Baxter Avenue location. His holdings include three downtown buildings in Superior, a venue in Duluth, a couple of warehouses and 92 apartments. He said those buildings would not suit the needs of his electrical business.
The Halvor Lines trucking firm founded in 1968 will remain on Superior's waterfront at 217 Grand Ave.
Its sister company founded in 2008, Halvor Logistics, is going to move to 329 Grand Ave. New lanes of travel to the bridge will be constructed where its building stands now.
Halvor Lines is not doing a full relocation, but it will lose some property on the west side, so company leaders are looking at doing some consolidation, Serck said.
They expect to lose two of the three buildings, including one to the west and the Halvor Logistics building to the south of the trucking firm's property, as well as some parking, spokesperson Cara Hess said.
"Our main building will be untouched," she said.
Hess said the company has found another building along Grand Avenue that it is currently sprucing up to relocate portions of the business, including Halvor Logistics. Other portions of the business will be moving into the building behind Central Flats that previously housed Enbridge Energy and Superior Choice Credit Union, Serck said.
The timeline remains uncertain, according to Hess.
"We're still in the process of kind of getting all the signage up and moving there," Hess said. She said the company plans to announce the move once the transfer is made.
Twin Ports Testing was the first out of the gate to announce a new location.
The firm that has provided testing services in the region since 1972 entered into a purchase agreement to buy 5 acres of land in the Atlas Industrial Park in Duluth's Morgan Park neighborhood with plans to construct a 10,000-square-foot testing facility. The building would be roughly comparable to its current site at 1301 N. Third St., Joe Berger, one of the company owners, told Duluth Media Group in October.
"We haven't closed on it, but we do have a purchase agreement," Brett Carlson, president and geotechnical engineer, and one of three owners of Twin Ports Testing, said this week. "The only available land we could find with the time we had available is over in Duluth."
Like Mahan, Carlson said Twin Ports Testing is expected to be out of its current location by Jan. 1, 2026.
"We're on a very tight timeline to do that," Carlson said. "I really can't say, but that is the intention."
While some disruption is expected, particularly in the lab where the machines will have to be recalibrated after the move, Carlson said they are looking forward to moving into a building that will better suit their needs.
"It's just the timeline, the way the funding works" that is the biggest challenge for Twin Ports Testing, Carlson said. "The state's on a tight timeline so we're on a tight timeline. The city of Superior and city of Duluth both worked with us to try to do what they could to keep us in business."
