New Port Authority director has eyes on reconstructing Duluth Lake Port

DULUTH – Among Kevin Beardsley’s first big tasks as the new executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority will be the reconstruction of the Duluth Lake Port on Rice’s Point, purchased by the public agency more than five years ago.

The Port Authority bought the 7½-acre dock, land, buildings, slip and 3,000 feet of rail line for $950,000 from a private owner in 2020. Beardsley, introduced as the successor to Deb DeLuca in the leadership position on Wednesday morning, said he is eyeing a late-summer deadline for a Port Infrastructure Development Program grant to help bring the upgrades to fruition.

“That will be a priority and a good one,” said Beardsley, who is the Port Authority’s chief financial officer until he officially takes over on June 3.

The Duluth Lake Port sits near Azcon Metals’ recycling facility and northwest of the Clure Terminal expansion. The dock and the slip were built in the 1880s alongside Duluth Imperial Mill’s flour mill and grain elevators. According to the Port Authority, it was last used for grain a decade ago.

Also on his to-do list: replacing himself. Beardsley has been the agency’s chief financial officer since 2014.

DeLuca, who has led the Port Authority since 2018, announced her retirement in January. She was the agency’s eighth director and the first woman in the role.

DeLuca and Beardsley are credited with initiating more than $35 million in capital projects. Upgrades to the Clure Public Marine Terminal led to four years of increased general cargo tonnage totals. The agency under their leadership also purchased and renovated the Seaway Building on Rice’s Point as their new headquarters — a project that earned them honors from the Duluth Preservation Society.

Beardsley, who grew up in Duluth and Two Harbors, has been with the Port Authority since 2014 and served as interim executive director for months in 2018 before DeLuca was hired to replace Vanta E. Coda.