LILEKS (James) Mpls: Federal Reserve

Finally they decided to modernize the base and give the building a unified appearance. This was after the Fed had moved to its new HQ, and the building belonged to National City Bank. The end result isn't completely sensible - the tower has a dull late 50s feel, and the base has a dull early 70s feel. But the number of people who actually know what this building was are few. Include me: until I discovered the previous photos, I had no idea.

(Photographs courtesy Star-Tribune library)

The building as it appears today. For many years the second floor contains a garden with running water, a fine quiet place to have lunch or sit and think. The streams were filled in with rock a few years ago, probably for legal reasons, but the second floor is still given over to vegetation and benches, and remains after all these years the best-kept secret downtown. No one is ever there in the late afternoon. In the middle of the city, this ancient space is all yours.