The redevelopment of more than 20 acres of formerly industrial land on the shores of Lake Superior in Two Harbors represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a large public park in the shadows of the iconic ore docks at Agate Bay. Duval worked with an appointed Waterfront Task Force to create a consolidated design and implementation plan for the Two Harbors waterfront, adopted by the City Council in April 2026. Following that adoption, Duval helped the City to establish a detailed strategy for funding pursuits, secure pre-development funds, coordinate intergovernmental partners, and develop a detailed implementation checklist to drive next steps. These are outlined in a supplemental Addendum to the adopted report (Addendum 1).

The transformational nature of this project is rooted in the fact that this distressed waterfront has every challenge imaginable from an implementation perspective: historic, environmental, intergovernmental, and cost hurdles are all present. The project is located on the site of the first town settlement, which was later displaced by precedent-setting industrial infrastructure (the first ore docks in Minnesota were here, shipping the first ore from the Mesabi Range leading to the nationally significant growth of U.S. Steel). For these reasons, the site has archaeological significance through multiple periods, and has already been the site of substantial archaeological excavation. The industrial use of the site has resulted in the degradation of existing wetlands on site, and the emergence of other environmental challenges (pollution and hazardous materials). The harbor is federal, meaning that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a stakeholder, and in addition to large ore docks that remain active today, the harbor is home to a decaying large pier dating back to the 1800s, and a decaying merchant dock—both hazardous enough to merit fencing to keep the public out of the water at this site. The coastal edge is underutilized and in some areas environmentally distressed. 

For all of these reasons, both the compliance process related to permitting its transformation, and the transformation itself, will be substantial, involving both historic and environmental oversight. But for those same reasons, the site has great promise as both an interpretive gem and a place of spectacular views of Lake Superior, including the thousand-foot ships that are loaded at massive ore docks in the Bay. Fulfilling the community’s vision for this site will require a robust pre-design, design, and implementation process and substantial funding. One of the things that we bring to the process is a roadmap to achieve just that—to walk with a small community that needs to achieve big things, and to make it possible.

Team:

Development Manager: Duval Companies

Urban Design: Duval Companies

Shoreline Engineering: Dewberry

Client:

City of Two Harbors

Project Data:

Site Area: 20 acres

Building Areas: 40,000 SF

Use: Civic

Photography / Images © Duval Companies, Dewberry 2026