Parks & Recreation

Athletic Venues Reinvestment Initiative

Project Status: Planning

Project Overview:

The Minnesota State Legislature approved a request from the City of Duluth to renew a one-half-of-one-percent increment in tourism taxes (half-and-half tourism tax) to fund improvements to parks-based athletic venues that drive regional sports tourism. The renewed half-and-half tourism tax, titled the Athletic Venue Reinvestment Initiative (AVRI), will provide up to $36 million of investment and will be implemented in phases over a decade. Per state law, the half-and-half tourism tax dollars may only be spent on athletic facilities that currently host, or could in the future host, events and competitions that attract numerous participants from outside the Duluth region.

The City is consulting with RDG Planning and Design, Inc (RDG) to develop an AVRI Action Plan and assist with community engagement, public-private financing opportunities, investment recommendations, site planning, market-based cost estimating, and implementation and operations strategies.

Indoor Athletic Venues: 22 community members have been appointed to the Mayoral Indoor Athletics Venues Task Force to work in collaboration with City staff, project partners, and consultants to develop and deliver recommendations related to renovating existing indoor athletic venues and constructing new indoor athletics facilities. The Task Force is chaired by Todd Fedora, former Duluth City Councilor and longtime regional leader in commercial banking.

Outdoor Athletic Venues: Prioritized re-investments will be made at existing parks-based outdoor athletics venues that drive regional sports tourism. Recommendations for future investments will be based on an in-depth needs assessment, community and stakeholder input, and market-driven data resources.

Project Update:

The City and RDG have conducted significant public outreach to better understand community needs and priorities, including six focus group meetings with leaders from local athletics groups, three in-person community-wide workshops, and an online community survey. More than 100 people attended the in-person community workshops, and more than 1,400 people completed the online survey.

Additional work completed by RDG includes a sports-tourism focused market assessment, participation trends analysis, facility needs assessments, and market-based cost estimates for potential facility improvements. RDG presented an update of their efforts and findings with the Parks and Recreation Commission on January 15, 2025.

Currently, next steps and potential investment approaches are being evaluated, with additional community outreach anticipated in 2026.