Chester Park-UMD

By Adelie Bergstrom abergstrom@duluthnews.com

This neighborhood is, quite literally, defined by its two namesakes — Chester Park, and the creek that flows through it; and the University of Minnesota Duluth campus.

The district is one of competing landscapes, stretching roughly from Chester Creek to about Wallace Avenue and from Arrowhead Road to Fourth or Eighth streets, depending on where you find yourself.

Woodland Avenue serves as a main shopping district, anchored by the Mount Royal Shopping Center and the BlueStone development. Other retail and businesses are found along Eighth Street.

Only part of Chester Park itself actually lies within the neighborhood. The park was one of Duluth’s first, founded in 1891. It was named after Charles Chester, a homesteader who lived on a land claim here as early as 1857.

The park lies along Chester Creek and originally ran from what is now Skyline Parkway to Fourth Street between 14th and 18th avenues east. In 1920, Chester Park expanded above the parkway with land bought by the Duluth Ski Club, which used the park for ski jumping tournaments until 2005, according to the city. The park’s historic ski jumps came down in 2014.

Meanwhile, UMD’s roots lie in the Duluth State Teachers College on Fifth Street at 23rd Avenue East.

In 1947, the school became a branch of the University of Minnesota system. That same year, the city set aside 160 acres from a former dairy off Woodland Avenue for an expanded school, and the first building on the “upper campus” broke ground in

December 1948.

Today, the campus is 244 acres, with an enrollment of about 11,000. Many of those 11,000 students live in the neighborhood, along with students from nearby St. Scholastica.

The neighborhood is a mix of single-family homes as well as many rental properties — a mix that sometimes has led to clashes among neighbors. The BlueStone development added some student housing, and UMD is planning a new 10-story dormitory to open in 2021.

A traditional university business district never took shape here. UMD students have complained for years that there are no trendy and vibrant areas near campus to hang out, study and shop, such as Dinkytown in Minneapolis.

While some say the area is already too busy, others hope the area continues to evolve into an eclectic college district, and the idea consistently has ranked high in public forums for the city’s comprehensive plan.