Heather Persgard, co-owner of Boardwalk Books, met with officials from the Duluth City Attorney's office and Fire Department today to determine what needs to be done so the business can reopen.
Fire Marshal Erik Simonson Thursday ordered the immediate closure of the building at 206 E. Superior St. to public occupancy for a lengthy history of non-compliance with fire code issues, according to a city news release.
"We're in a wait and see mode here as to what the fire chief says it will take to get this place open," store co-owner George Persgard said. "Or do they want this place open? Are we smelling developers here?"
City Attorney Bryan Brown said that any allegations of a hidden city agenda for closing the business are groundless.
"I have personally been involved in talks about the safety concerns about the building for decades," he said. "There are a lot of fire code violations. There is a chance there will be violations of the building code in addition to the fire code."
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George Persgard said Simonson inspected the building Wednesday morning. It was the first inspection the building had in the four years he and his wife have owned the bookstore, George Persgard said.
"Within 26 hours he (Simonson) walks in with the paperwork to shut us down," he said.
Simonson could not be reached for comment today. The Fire Department referred calls to the city attorney's office.
Brown doesn't know when the building was last inspected.
"I know from my personal knowledge that building has been inspected many times over the years," he said. "I know I handled criminal prosecutions involving code violations down there years ago. There was consistent contact between the building owner and the building safety people over a long period of time. I'm not saying he was uncooperative, it's just that there was a lot of stuff that needed fixing down there."
Police cited George Persgard for obstruction of justice Thursday after he locked the bookstore's front door with inspectors from the fire department and building safety office inside the business.
George Persgard said the officials weren't locked in.
"They came in and shut my business down, so I locked the door," George Persgard said. "Simonson insisted that he be let out through the front door. I said 'Look. You came in here unannounced, locked down my business and now it's locked. You know the way out of here. If you want to leave, slink out the backdoor, the fire exit.' His response was to call the police."
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Duluth Police Sgt. Dan Fogarty said several squads responded to the bookstore after receiving a report that George Persgard wouldn't let the inspectors out of the building.
"Two squads got there before I did," Fogarty said. "By the time I got there the firefighters were already outside."
George Persgard didn't want to talk to police, Fogarty said.
"He was upset, which I guess is normal if someone comes and closes your business down," Fogarty said.
