The Snively Lounge and four new guest rooms are being added to the 13-room Oliver Inn in Downtown Duluth. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
A new lounge featuring antique chandeliers, a forest of ferns and a make-your-own-music stage is part of a hotel expansion project inside a history-filled Downtown Duluth landmark.
The Snively Lounge is expected to open along with four new ground-floor guest rooms at the Oliver Inn, 132 E. Superior St., later this spring. The remodeling project replaces space formerly occupied by Wasabi Duluth, a Japanese restaurant that closed Dec. 31 and consolidated operations in Superior.
The Oliver Inn, its basement bar called The Rathskeller, and the new Snively Lounge above it are all located inside the historic 1889 Duluth City Hall. The building is owned by Duluth-based hospitality group Just Take Action Inc., which also operates Fitger’s Brewhouse Brewery and Grille, Fitger’s Barrel Room, Burrito Union and Endion Station Inn.
The Snively Lounge will be named after Samuel Snively, who served as Duluth mayor from 1921 to 1937.
Just Take Action owner Rod Raymond stands on the steps inside the historic 1889 City Hall building. Just Take Action has owned the building since 2005.
Just Take Action owner Rod Raymond said the small, 35-seat room will be a laid-back gathering place in a beautiful space. It will feature a full bar along with a creative menu of non-alcoholic botanical drinks.
“I’m doing this idea where we’ll have these handcrafted botanicals where you can drink them alcohol-free or add booze to them,” he said. “It’s going to be a little more flannel shirt upstairs and downstairs The Rathskeller will remain what it is — a speakeasy.”
Botanical drinks are made with plant-based ingredients like herbs, flowers, fruits or spices. Raymond said the Brewhouse will feature a new ginger beer at the Snively Lounge along with its line of THC drinks.
“We do beer, that’s what we do best,” he said. “Now we’re going to start fermenting some products and making some different botanical things.”
An upright piano and sofa seating will be added to the stage inside the Snively Lounge. Blue tape on the floor outlines the future bar.
Hanging plants, ferns and other greenery will decorate the room. A small stage – leftover from when the space was known as Tycoons Alehouse — will remain in place and feature a permanent upright piano and acoustic guitar. Raymond said the instruments will be available to patrons for impromptu performances or sing-a-longs.
“I call it a living-room music experience,” he said. “You won’t see a microphone up there, it will just be people jamming in their living room.”
Snacks and reheated sandwiches made at the Brewhouse will be available.
The remodeling project has removed the kitchen and old bar, which will be replaced by four new Oliver Inn guest rooms and a small lounge. A fifth guest room will be added in the basement. The boutique hotel, which opened in 2022, currently has 13 unique guest rooms.
Workers are creating four new guest rooms on the ground level of the historic 1889 City Hall building.
Many of the rooms feature themed designs and are named after historical Duluth figures like turn-of-the-century power couple Chester and Clara Congdon and iron-mining pioneers the Merritt Brothers. A new musical-themed room will be named after Hillside-born Robert Zimmerman, who grew up to become famed singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
“The Oliver Inn has been going great,” said Raymond. Tourists keep weekends busy while more people are booking stays to visit family convalescing at the two large city hospitals, he said.
Still, Downtown Duluth nightlife and its unique commercial corridor is always an attraction.
“Duluth is happening,” he said. “A lot of good things are happening down there. Despite the negatives we hear, there are people like me that still believe in it. We work hard. We have people who care. People love going to the theater. They love going to Zeitgeist. The love poking around downtown. If we can keep the rest of that downtown hopping, everyone is going to do well.”
Samuel F. Snively served as Duluth mayor from 1921-1937.
During a tour of the Oliver Inn construction, Raymond said Duluth history and architecture is another important downtown feature that can attract visitors and new business. “These are the same steps Mayor Snively used,” he said, walking up to the former city council chambers on the second floor. “You can see where all the decisions were made back then — right here.” The room is now the Grand Chamber Suite.
The 1889 City Hall building was designed by renowned architect Oliver Traphagen and served as a headquarters for city business from 1889 to 1929. Traphagen also worked on landmark buildings like First Presbyterian Church (300 E. Second St.), Fire Station #1 (101 E. Third St.) and Central High School (215 N. First Ave E.). The recently demolished Pastoret Terrace (127-129 E. First St.) was designed by Traphagen in 1887.
The historic 1889 City Hall building as it looked shortly after opening at 132 E. Superior St.. (Photo courtesy of the Duluth Public Library).
After a new (and current) city hall opened at 411 W. First St. in 1929 the old city hall saw a variety of uses, primarily on its ground floor.
According to Duluth Public Library records, the building was home to the St. Louis County Welfare Board, a Veteran’s Administration office and an antique store among other things. Officials condemned the property in 1941. Still it housed the American Red Cross until 1945 and was sold to an Eveleth real estate firm in 1946. Northern Electric, an electrical supply store, operated out of old city hall for approximately 45 years when it closed in 1994.
Just Take Action purchased the property in 2005 and launched a restoration, eventually landing on its current bar and hotel operation.
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