History of Pinewood, Inc.

Pinewood Cloquet building

Pinewood-Cloquet, Inc. began as Carlton County Daytime Activity Center in one large room in the lower level of the Zion Lutheran Church in January 1964. Six adults were enrolled and parents provided transportation. In the fall of 1969, with an enrollment of sixteen, the program moved to a large brick home located at 413 Broadway. In March of 1974, an Executive Director was hired to obtain funding in order to build a facility to meet the growing population. Ground was broken for the present building in October 1974, and the program began operation at 915 – 18^th Street in June 1975 with an enrollment of thirty-three adults under the name of Pinewood Learning Center.  A preschool program began in July 1975 and served children up to age five until 1980, when it became mandatory for public schools to serve children from birth to twenty-one. Pinewood Learning Center changed its name in 1990 to Pinewood-Cloquet, Inc. and currently provides program, community and in-house employment, and transportation services to eighty-one adults having development disabilities and related conditions.

Pinewood Duluth building

During 1989 and 1990, Pinewood-Cloquet, Inc. began serving persons from St. Louis County . A variance was obtained to increase license capacity from eighty-five to ninety-two persons until another program could be started in St. Louis County . Pinewood was awarded the contract to open a day habilitation program in Duluth , and Pinewood-Duluth, Inc. opened its doors on November 6, 1991 in a renovated hardware store in West Duluth with seventeen persons attending. Enrollment grew quickly and St. Louis County requested that Pinewood increase its license capacity from fifty persons to seventy-five persons. The request was granted and a search began for a larger building to meet the agency’s needs.  Pinewood-Duluth moved into its current building on 1102 E. 4^th Street in January 1993. Pinewood-Duluth currently provides program, community employment, in-house employment, and transportation services to sixty-seven adults having developmental disabilities and related conditions.