Please click on the following links or scroll down to read two news releases being distributed today.
Construction will begin this week to renovate the Pantages Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis http://www.mcda.org/whats_new/Newsreleases/Pantages_Theatre.htm Architectural models exhibition opens November 9 http://www.mcda.org/whats_new/Newsreleases/Building_community_2001.htm *** November 2, 2001 Contact: Alicia Scott, MCDA (612) 673-5015 TTY: (612) 673-5154 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PANTAGES THEATRE RENOVATION BEGINS Opening will mark major addition to Downtown Minneapolis' Theater District (MINNEAPOLIS) - Construction will begin this week to renovate the Pantages Theatre, 700 Hennepin Ave., a 1,000-seat theater in Downtown Minneapolis. The Pantages is scheduled to open in November 2002. "The Pantages will be a major addition to the city's Entertainment District," said Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, "and will provide a new niche with the introduction of off-Broadway theater to Downtown Minneapolis." The city of Minneapolis purchased the theater in 1998 from long-time owner, Ted Mann. The Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA) took over ownership from the city early last year and will continue to own the theater. Historic Theatre Group (HTG) will operate and manage the Pantages once it opens. The HTG also operates the MCDA-owned Historic State and Orpheum theaters in the Downtown Entertainment District. The Pantages will carry primarily off-Broadway/live theater productions along with live music concerts. The 40,000-square-foot Pantages opened in 1916 as a Vaudeville theater. Ted Mann bought the building in 1959, renamed the building in his name and ran motion pictures until the theater closed in 1984. The theater is fronted along Hennepin Avenue and Seventh Street by the 23,000-square-foot Stimson Building. After renovation, the MCDA will sell the Stimson Building to a private owner with the intent of enhancing the theater/entertainment theme along the avenue. Renovation of the Pantages will include all new building systems including electrical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and mechanical air handling. All four roof elevations will be completely new and strengthened to bring them up to current building standards. The lobby will be modern in appearance. The auditorium will accent the original 1916 construction through the selective renovation of decorative plasterwork and other details. The marquee and entranceway will be distinctive, highly lit and will play off the original marquee design of 1916. -more- The project architect is Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. After almost a full year of design and engineering work, a construction contract has now been awarded to Penn-Co Construction, Inc. of Eagan, Minnesota. Total renovation cost for the Pantages Theatre/Stimson buildings is $8.9 million. Financing will be provided through the MCDA's Common Bond Fund. Principal and interest on the bonds will be paid from the ticket surcharge generated by event ticket sales in all three MCDA-owned theaters. ### November 2, 2001 Contact: Peter Bruce, Community Enhancement & Organizing (612) 827-7834 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BUILDING COMMUNITY: ARCHITECTURAL MODELS OF THE NEW MINNEAPOLIS November 9-16, 2001, 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. weekdays only Opening 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9; Closing 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 At the 225 South Sixth Street building (formerly US Bank Place) (MINNEAPOLIS) - Towering cranes and pounding jackhammers are everywhere in downtown Minneapolis these days, rapidly transforming the city into a place few old-timers would recognize. On November 9 a special exhibition, "Building Community: Architectural Models of the New Minneapolis," will open and offer to the public a glimpse of what's to come. The exhibit will feature at least 15 architectural models of buildings proposed, under construction or recently completed, plus drawings and renderings of additional buildings. The exhibit will be on display in the 225 South Sixth Street building (formerly U.S. Bank Place) Winter Garden atrium. The exhibition will open at 1 p.m. on November 9 with a special program including remarks from Terrell Towers, Director of Economic Development at the Minneapolis Community Development Agency, and from Kim Havey, Director of the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone Program. Represented in the exhibition are many exciting and innovative projects that will become visual icons of Minneapolis for the 21st century. Prominent among them will be the model for the Block E project, now under construction in the heart of downtown. Although images of Block E have been published, this will be the first opportunity for the public to view this project in the round. Models and architectural renderings will also provide a glimpse of the future of the Hennepin Avenue Theater District. A model of the atrium of the Shubert Theater and drawings of the interior renovations of the Pantages Theatre will be set in context by a six-foot-long aerial photograph of Hennepin Avenue from 10th Street to Washington Avenue. -more- The models on display will highlight the commitment of Minneapolis to historic preservation as well as architectural innovation. Several colorful models will illuminate designs that focus on the creative re-use of turn-of-the-century buildings along Lake Street, including the intersections of Lake Street at Nicollet Avenue, Bloomington Avenue and 27th Avenue. These models are being shown for the first time. A model of the new Many Rivers housing for American Indians at Franklin and 14th avenues will also be premiered, and exciting new designs for the LRT station on Nicollet Mall will be revealed to the public for the first time. Rarely displayed in public, architectural models are significant and valuable works of art in themselves. These small-scale structures are constructed for a number of different purposes. Conceptual models are often made by architectural firms for internal use in exploring a variety of design solutions. Urban models reproduce an entire cityscape in order to provide the context for a projected building within it. Presentation models can be critical components of architectural competitions or are needed as part of a public review process. Many presentation models are created to aid client fundraising efforts by impressing potential donors with a vivid three-dimensional image. The construction of a detailed scale model can cost up to $50,000 or more, despite the use of such light, inexpensive materials as basswood, fiberboard, polystyrene or foamcore. Landscape material and tiny human figures are often included. Although usually discarded when a building is finished, models form an important part of our architectural heritage and increase in value with the passage of time. This exhibit has been organized by Peter Bruce of Community Enhancement and Organizing. Sponsors of the Exhibition are: Minneapolis Community Development Agency Minneapolis Empowerment Zone Office American Institute of Architects - Minneapolis Chapter Hines Ryan Companies US, Inc. DJR Architecture McCaffery Interests/Block E United Properties Ellerbe Becket ESG Architects University of St. Thomas Walsh Bishop Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. ### Elizabeth Haugen, Communications Minneapolis Community Development Agency 105 5th Ave. S., Suite 200 Minneapolis MN 55401-2534 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (612) 673-5121 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
