New name, clean-up plan for downtown Duluth parking ramp

A parking ramp in downtown Duluth is under new management, has an official name and will see a wholesale cleaning soon.

The ramp next to the Fond-du-Luth Casino officially came under the management of Interstate Parking Company on Friday and has been named the East Superior Street Public Ramp. The city-owned ramp had been run by casino operators Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The city’s hiring of a third-party parking management company in April led to the change in management.

City parking manager Matthew Kennedy said the ramp “could use a double dose of TLC.”

The ramp will be cleaned from top to bottom with high-pressure water, Kennedy said, and will get new lines painted.

It also will begin accepting credit and debit cards at the exit, Kennedy said.

The ramp project is part of an ongoing effort by the city to shore up its parking operations and make the parking options around the city more visible to drivers.

“It will look dramatically different,” Kennedy said of the ramp revitalization.

The city announced it was ending the partnership with Fond du Lac in April as it consolidates all of its parking under Interstate.

Kennedy said he had heard reports from parkers about the upkeep at the ramp next to the casino. There also were concerns about how often the pay exit was being staffed.

The casino had been running the ramp under contract with the city the past year and a half. The band received $185,000 a year for the arrangement that was supposed to run through 2013. The contract had a 60-day notice clause to end the agreement.

The city never had an official name for the ramp, Kennedy said, but most people referred to it as the “casino ramp.” Kennedy said he wants the public to know the city-owned ramp is open to anyone parking downtown.

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