The facade of the Cyrus Northrup Memorial Auditorium,a $1,000,000 building, heads the “Cass Gilbert” mall of the “Greater University” campus. Construction began in 1928, the new auditorium was originally planned to seat 5,000 and contain a special memorial to Cyrus Northrop, president of the University of Minnesota between the years of 1885 and 1911. The Memorial Hall as planned was 40 feet high, 108 feet long and 28 feet wide. Finished in bronze and travertine stone from Minnesota quarries, nine huge bronze panels were to be left vacant and used as time passed for memorials and symbolic sculpture representing the great events in the history of the University of Minnesota. Northrop’s grand opening on October 22, 1929 was headlined by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. The festivities continued with the Boston Symphony on October 30 and the “Alumni and State Program” on November 15.
