Minneapolis tore down grain elevators to clear the central riverfront land where the Guthrie plans to build a new theater, complete with a lobby cantilevered out over West River Parkway to the Mississippi.
Meanwhile, St. Paul is holding a design competition to re-use old grain elevator buildings on its central riverfront. From the Strib: "It's got the finest view in St. Paul," said Coleman, who represents the area and who will be part of the jury that selects the winning designs. "And it's built out over the Mississippi; you could never get permission to build something like that again, so it's a great opportunity." The elevator buildings were built between 1927 and 1931 as part of the Equity Cooperative Exchange (later it was Harvest States Cooperative). Grain was stored in dozens of nearby silos, then transferred through a chute stretching over the old Shepard Road into the concrete head house. From there it was transferred to barges on the river below. (http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/1647238.html) We may be a bit freer with our wrecking balls in Minneapolis, but at least you could apparently get permission to build something like that again here. Why not use the Guthrie's cantilobby as a chute to transfer theater patrons to performance barges on the river below? We could start our fleet by repatriating the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat from the clutches of its abductors in St. Paul. Chris Steller Nicollet Island-East Bank _______________________________________ 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
