Laughter, Falling Water and Time
For Twenty-five long years, the Sheraton-Ritz in Minneapolis sat across the street from the Downtown Library between Nicollet Mall and Marquette Avenue. The swanky hotel was one of the first things built after the city condemned and demolished everything they could for the Gateway District Urban Renewal Project. Construction began in 1961 and the 19 … Read more
Completed in 1964, the ReliaStar Building, formally known as the Northwestern National Life Building, designed by Minoru Yamasaki and Associates, opened at the end of Nicollet Avenue in 1965. The low-rise structure’s 85 foot portico contains a colonnade of 21 quartz-faced concrete columns in the east-west direction and 9 columns in the north-south direction on … Read more
The Capp Towers Motor Hotel 1313 Nicollet Avenue South turned a few heads when it opened on Tuesday April 2nd, 1963. The 6.5 million dollar structure with 330 rooms could accommodate 800 guests. Capp Towers was the third downtown motel to open that year after the Inn Towne and the Northstar Inn. The 15 story … Read more
The use of trading stamps followed the spread of service stations and grocery stores chains across America in the early decades of the last century. After the Second World War supermarkets began issuing trading stamps as a customer incentives and before 1960 at least 250,000 retailer issued trading stamps. Trading stamp companies had over a … Read more
The Young Quinlan Building was designed by Magney and Tusler with Frederick Ackerman. Miss Quinlan spared no expense when building her elegant five-story building at the corner of Nicollet Mall and Ninth Street. She sought out an architect that would design her “home” with an Old World atmosphere. The building’s dedication ceremony and open house … Read more
MIDWEST FEDERAL 801 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis “A good tree to come to for shelter.” 20-story Office Tower. First total-electric office building in area. Unique ‘5th Season’ interior climate. Mechanical equipment operated by one of nation’s most advanced control centers. All faith Chapel in the Sky. Home Offices of Midwest Federal. Corporate headquarters for many major … Read more
Dear Edina Prairie, Hardjaw and I saw the coolest movie at the Cedar Theater on the West Bank Last night. It was completely punk rock. I think it was called “Out of the Blue”. I don’t know how long it’s been out or if it is in regular theaters, but you should see if it’s … Read more