The far-too-lengthy list of Duluth's grand, but lost, landmarks includes the elegant Spalding Hotel, the famous Incline Railway, the Grand Opera House that was said to be the finest west of Chicago, and the Lyceum Theater, "the finest place of amusement in the Northwest" during its heyday.
The tally can go on, every listing another nostalgic tug at the heartstrings.
And new additions are in danger of being added: The London Road Armory remains empty and unused, the old St. Louis County Jail may or may not have a serious buyer, and the Minnesota Point lighthouse has stood neglected and decaying for generations.
One structure not on those lists -- and that can't be allowed on -- is Enger Tower. After the Aerial Lift Bridge, Enger Tower is Duluth's most-recognized icon. Has been since 1939 when furniture seller Bert Enger donated land and Crown Prince Olaf and Princess Martha of Enger's native Norway arrived to celebrate its construction.
That the tower is being mentioned in the same breath as Duluth's lost landmarks is due to its need for urgent repair. Many of the tower's original stone benches aren't suitable for sitting any longer. Ornamental work has grown weak. Rocks have come loose. Plaster has given way and fallen to the ground. The roof leaks. And the entire structure needs tuck-pointing, especially on the side where the oft-brutal breezes of Lake Superior have been battering away for 70-plus years.
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The good news is that the city of Duluth has no intention of letting the tower go, of letting it decay until it can no longer be repaired.
The bad news is that as much as $1 million may be needed for immediate repairs, and the city's budget woes are as famous as its lake.
Despite its financial frailties, however, Duluth has dedicated $100,000 from the 2010 capital improvement fund to finalize a list of repairs, to determine their costs and to come up with the most-affordable, most-sensible way to finish the fixes. The city is even poised to contract with Collaborative Design Group of Minneapolis, which has extensive experience in historic preservation and other services.
"We want to restore it to its original glory," Duluth City Architect Terry Groshong said in an interview last week with the News Tribune Opinion page. "She's weathered our weather pretty well, but it's time to put some money into it."
Considering the city's pocketbook, putting some money into Enger is likely to mean a public fundraising drive -- and an aggressive one at that. But talk about a worthy cause. How about we all give ten bucks for every out-of-town relative or friend we've ever taken up the tower's native bluestone steps? Perhaps local stone masons and others will step up to donate time or to work at cost.
While Duluthians figure out how much they can give, city leaders can get to work writing a nomination -- or hiring a professional to write it -- to finally land Enger Tower on the National Register of Historic Places. Such a designation would open the door to tax credits, grants, matching funds and other possible sources of financing for repairs, those sources including Minnesota's new Legacy Fund.
"The Minnesota Legislature specifically instructed that Legacy grant funds be used for projects where there is a 'wow factor.' In my mind, nothing would qualify better than Enger Tower," said Carolyn Sundquist of the nonprofit Duluth Preservation Alliance and a member of the board of advisers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Since 1939, Enger Tower has been a fixture in Duluth, a beacon of community, a breathtaking overlook, and a can't-miss tourist attraction. We've replaced a few of its fallen rocks over the years and kept its lights aglow. But more help certainly seems necessary now. Whether a few repairs will suffice or an all-out, shut-it-down, cover-it-with-scaffolding renovation is needed is still being determined.
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But not this time.
That's what we can say to the prospect of losing yet another landmark that's quintessentially Duluth, of turning our backs on another of our treasures.
As Groshong put it: "No one wants to be the guy who hangs the sign that says, 'Enger Park ruins.'"
