DULUTH — Duluth Playhouse now owns the NorShor Theatre, the nonprofit company's home.
In a ceremony held in the venue's lobby Tuesday afternoon, developer Sherman Associates acknowledged the official transfer of ownership interest to the nonprofit theater company.
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"Having a home that is ours now, that we can produce in, that we have control over the cost, that we are not subject to rent increases, is huge and it solidifies a sustainable future for the organization," said Wes Drummond, Duluth Playhouse executive director, speaking to media before a ceremonial key transfer and ribbon-cutting.
Sherman Associates CEO George Sherman described the transfer as "fulfilling a promise made 10 years ago to bring this building to life."
The long-planned hand-off required the resolution of a complex financing structure that "used over ten sources of financing including private and public debt, equity, tax credit allocations, tax increment financing, and grants, including contributions from Duluth Playhouse and the City of Duluth," according to a news release from Sherman Associates.
"These projects are exhausting, and it's worth it," said Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, one of several people invited to the podium during Tuesday's ceremony. "These projects are expensive, and it's worth it. These projects require a vision, which Don Ness had and this community embraced and this community moved forward."
The NorShor's rejuvenation was a longstanding goal for Ness. Larson's predecessor in office, who served from 2008-2016, attended Tuesday's event but stood to the rear of the gathering crowd.
"He's moving further and further to the back!" said Sherman, eliciting laughter. "But he is responsible for a lot of this."
Sherman remembered that "Don had an idea to bring it back to life, and he wanted to know if I would be interested in hearing it. I think I told him 'no' at least five times."
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Former Duluth Playhouse Executive Director Christine Gradl Seitz, for whom the NorShor lobby was named in 2021, recounted that the organization's journey to the Historic Arts and Theater District "actually began in 2000, when the organization was just busting out the seams at the Depot."
Seitz thanked Ness "for ensuring that the NorShor would not be met with the wrecking ball," and credited Sherman Associates for making a $1.7 million contribution to the $29.5 million rehabilitation project.
Sherman's success with the NorShor has fueled hopes that he can work the same magic with the Duluth Armory, which is owned by a nonprofit with even bigger dreams: a $55 million renovation that would turn the East Hillside neighborhood landmark into a venue for events including entertainment, along with providing space for education programming and community kitchen use along with a public food hall.
"Being here is meaningful when we think about the future of our community," said Larson at the NorShor. "The vision that George Sherman is bringing to the Armory is something that is equally awesome and important. ... Now we know what's possible with that vision and that commitment to community."
Sherman, whose Minneapolis-based company owns and manages "over 660,000 square feet of commercial space" and "has developed over 12,000 multifamily units," according to the news release, has joined the Armory project as a partner. He emphasized, however, that the project still has a long road ahead.
"Before we closed on (the NorShor), we were on pro forma number 48," said Sherman, using an industry term for a financial feasibility analysis. "We're only on pro forma number four or five at the Armory."
Matt Baumgartner, president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday that "by investing into this district, George recognized that arts and entertainment, and that industry, plays a big role in the business community and the broader economy."
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"I am grateful to live in a city that understands the value and the economic impact of the arts and culture and the impact that an organization like Duluth Playhouse has on the livability of an area and the emotional and mental health of the people living in it," said Drummond, who moved to Duluth to succeed Seitz in 2021.
The NorShor dates to 1910, when it opened as the Orpheum Theater with a facade facing Second Avenue East. Three decades later, the Orpheum was "practically gutted," historians Tony Dierckins and Maryanne C. Norton wrote in their book "Duluth's Grand Old Architecture," with the auditorium rebuilt in a reversed configuration. The East Superior Street entrance was converted from a parking garage, and the NorShor opened as a movie theater in 1941.
In 2010, the Duluth Economic Development Authority purchased the theater for $2.6 million, "bringing an end to the venue's era as a strip club known as the NorShor Experience," reported the News Tribune at the time. The renovation project was awarded to Sherman Associates two years later, and the theater finally reopened in 2018 with a Playhouse production of "Mamma Mia."
The Playhouse vacated its St. Louis County Depot space last year to consolidate programming at the NorShor, where it's about to open an additional black-box venue called The Lab. The company has also acquired a building just a block north, on East First Street, formerly known as the Encounter building, it's now used for Playhouse storage and educational programming and referred to as The Annex.
"Duluth Playhouse is honored to call this beautiful, historic building home," said Drummond on Tuesday, "and we are happy to continue to be a beacon for arts and culture in downtown Duluth."
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