Mayor's Office

[Duluth, MN] Mayor Emily Larson is creating a task force to draft a set of recommendations intended to help Duluth meet the community’s need for quality, accessible indoor athletic venues for a variety of athletic activities. Goals of the Indoor Athletics Venues Task Force include supporting sports tourism, lowering barriers to athletic participation, and enhancing Duluth’s quality of life.

Mayor Larson will appoint nine-to-thirteen members of the Duluth community to the Indoor Athletics Venues Task Force, who will work in collaboration with City staff, project partners and consultants to draft recommendations for the Mayor, the City Council, and project partners. The task force will be asked to deliver its findings by September 30, 2024.

The task force, with support from consultants and City staff, will be asked to advise on effective strategies to better meet the community’s need for indoor athletic venues, including:

1. Making better use of existing indoor venues through improved inter-agency communications and cooperation.
2. Forging effective public-private partnerships for the ownership, financing, and operation of existing and new indoor venues.
3. Renovating or replacing existing indoor venues.
4. Constructing new indoor venues.

While anyone can apply to serve on the task force, the City is especially interested in residents with relevant business and professional expertise who have a strong connection to parks-based athletics programming and can contribute constructively to a group decision-making process.

The task force will be chaired by Todd Fedora, former Duluth City Councilor and longtime regional leader in commercial banking.