Duluth's NorShor Theater gets planning grant

Marquee
The marquee at the NorShor theater in Duluth, in this file photo from 2006.
MPR Photo/Stephanie Hemphill

A Duluth arts group has obtained a $10,000 grant to develop a business plan for the historic NorShor theater.

The city of Duluth bought the old vaudeville house and movie theater for $2.6 million last summer, and plans to open the downtown facility as a public arts venue.

The Duluth Playhouse will manage the theater, and its executive director, Christine Gradl Seitz, says she'll use the grant to study other historic theaters and plan uses for the NorShor.

"There is widespread interest, need, and desire for the NorShor in multiple art forms, so I truly do expect that the NorShor will be a venue for performing arts across the board -- music, dance, opera, theater -- all of the above," she said.

The NorShor remains closed until accessibility and code issues are addressed. The business plan grant comes from the Duluth-Superior area Community Foundation.