Welcome: it's an unofficial account of the fall and rise of the largest urban renewal project downtown Minneapolis has seen in years. It required the demolition of one ugly 80s office tower, the historic StarTribune building, an unloved old warehouse, and the storied Metrodome.

In their place would rise two towers, a hotel, a small office building, housing, a two-block park - oh, and an enormous stadium that looms at the edge of downtown like a black glacier.

I worked at the StarTribune until it was knocked down, and recorded the project from start to finish. In general, I like it. The towers aren't spectacular, but on the other hand, there are two, mirroring each other. The housing is small-scale; the hotel is quite different, the park is 1000X better than the parking lot it replaced, and the Stadium - well, you're for it, or against it, as they say.

At present everything's up except the Star-Tribune Building memorial site, and the last piece of the Construction section.

Enjoy! It was quite the achievement.

JL

01.10.17

START HERE for the full experience.