The city of Duluth will appeal the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ recent decision to take into federal trust the Carter Hotel property, owned by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and located next to its Fond-du-Luth Casino in downtown Duluth. The action removes the site from the local property tax roll.
Mayor Emily Larson said the appeal should not be taken as an adversarial move. “It’s procedural in nature. It was communicated in advance to the Fond du Lac Band, and it essentially started a new 30-day clock so we can continue our work together until the next legal deadline approaches, to continue our conversation,” Larson said.
Tribal Chairman Wally Dupuis concurred, stating, “We didn’t take it as any kind of a hostile action or anything. The communication lines are open between our two governments, and communication is happening in both directions.”
Duluth Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery added, “It’s been positive so far, but there’s a lot of work to do, and we’re doing that work and seeing if there’s a direction we can both go that works well for everyone.”
The band purchased the Carter Hotel in 2010 and applied to have the land taken into federal trust in 2011. Built in 1929, the long-abandoned building has fallen into disrepair. Tribal Secretary/Treasurer Ferdinand Martineau said the structure probably would be demolished once the property official is placed in trust. Ferdinand would not reveal the tribe’s future plans for the property.
Relations have been tense between the city and the tribe since 2009, when the tribe stopped making revenue-sharing payments of $6 million annually from the Fond-du-Luth Casino to the city of Duluth. The National Indian Gaming Commission upheld the tribe’s decision. Duluth sued the tribe and in December 2014 U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson dismissed the case.
