Municipal Building (City Hall/Court House), Minneapolis Minnesota

Summary

The Municipal Building was constructed between 1889 and 1905 from a design by the Minneapolis architectural firm of Long and Kees. The cost was $3,554,000 which was 28 cents a cubic foot. The architectural style is Richardsonian Romanesque. Construction is of pink Ortonville granite, and the building has two stately towers, one of which houses a chiming clock. The structure is characterized by massive surfaces, worked stone arches, extensive interior marble and stained glass. The original terra cotta roof was replaced by copper in 1950.

While the hallways of the building have largely been left untouched through the years, the office spaces have been renovated a number of times and their original character is no longer evident. The interior is "elastic", that is one where office arrangements can be changed at any time since, floors are supported independent of any partitions. It was the first of its kind In the United States according to a Minneapolis Tribune article of July 28^th, 1889.

The most impressive interior feature is the five story rotunda at the Fourth Street entrance. Stained glass lines one wall and the ceiling. In the center of the rotunda is the statue, "Mississippi - Father of Waters", by Larkin Mead, an American working in Florence, Italy. The marble statue was carved from the largest block of marble taken, up to that time, from the Carrara quarries in Italy and was presented to the City in 1906.

The Fourth Street Tower, 365 feet in height, houses the chiming clock with each of its four faces larger in diameter than that of "Big Ben" on London's Parliament Building. The tower also has a 15 bell carillon.

Building Description

The Minnesota legislature passed an act in 1887 creating the Board of Court House and City Hall Commissioners. This Board was empowered to acquire land and construct a building. In 1887 the entire block was appraised and acquired for $321,408. The Construction Committee of the Board called for competitive bids from architects.. The guidelines of the bid advertisement specified as follows: the building was to cost $1,150,000, the main and most ornamental entrance was to be on Fourth Street with entrances on the three other sides, to be of fireproof construction, built to serve a population of one-half to three-quarters of a million persons and half to belong to the city and half to the county. The five best plans were to get prizes totaling $4,000 and the ultimate winner $1,500.

On February 28^th, 1888 the Board began studying the 26 plans submitted. The five prize winners were W. H. Dennis and Company, $1,000; M E. Bell, $600; Alexander Murrel, $500; G.W. and F.D. Orff, $400; and Long and Kess, $1,500.

Construction started in late 1888, and the corner stone was laid on July 16^th, 1891. Deeds were executed by Minneapolis and Hennepin County on May 18^th, 1909. The period from enabling legislation to the execution of the deeds was 22 years.

The winning architects were Long and Kees. Architectural plans of the building bear their names and are in the possession of the Municipal Building Commission and the Northwest Architectural Archives St. Paul. Long and Kees also built the Lumber Exchange, the Corn Exchange, Holmes Building, Kasota Building. Masonic Temple and Public Library, all in Minneapolis.

Excavation was performed by the firm Balch and Wetherbee at a cost of 26 1/2 cents a cubic yard except 20 cents a cubic yard for sand which was to be piled nearby.

The footings are of native limestone from the quarries of the Franklin Cook estate and were purchased from the Trustees of that estate.

Kettle River Sandstone was used in the foundation walls, the open court and backing of the granite walls. This sandstone was from the quarry of Ring and Tobin, Hinckley, Minnesota and the substructure, using that sandstone, was done by Bengt Aronson for $131,529.

The Ortonville granite was from the quarries of James Baxter and Sons, Minneapolis. Many of the granite blocks weighed more than 20 tons, and one lintel was purported to weigh 26 tons. They were transported by horse and wagon to Minneapolis.

The M. F. Sullivan Company, Minneapolis, furnished the Bedford stone from Indiana. This stone was used on the interior face work of the three vestibules of the Fourth Street entrance, in the groined arch ceilinqs, moldings, pilasters and panels.

The general contract in the amount of $245,000 for basement work was awarded to Hoglin and Morse, Minneapolis. Iron work in the basement was subcontracted to Crown Iron Works at a cost of $61,000.

The roof, beamwork and iron work went to the Gillette-Herzog Company.

The building contains approximately 13,850,000 hard-pressed bricks, 3,260,000 pounds of iron columns and lintels, 60,000 square feet of Italian marble and 350,000 cubic feet of cut granite.

Total costs for specific portions of the Municipal Building were:

The site	$ 321,408.00
Interior Main Entrance & Rotunda<>/td>	263,950.75
Interior Fifth Street Entrance	47,803.53
Assembly & G.A.R. Halls	54,660.84
Heat, light & power plant	90.756.23
Furniture	120,796.05
Chimes of bells	6,347.06
Architects fees, about	133,000,00
All else	2,518,821.69
TOTAL	$3,557,544.25

The above total exceeds the total listed on the bronze tablet in the rotunda which was $3,554,000. The small balance it was felt would be consumed by unknown incidental expenses.

The original building plans showed a water closet rotunda to be located in the interior court. It appears the rotunda was never built probably, because of cost. The clock tower facade also seems to have been drawn more ornately than as actually built. Either sections or all of the windows on the four exterior elevations had striped awnings which are no longer present.

The original roof was of terra cotta tiles but began leaking in the late 1940's A 180,000 pound copper roof was installed in 1950. It was said that the new copper roof was the largest in the United States.

Most windows on the ground floor have been glass-blocked as have a few on the first floor, Third Street side. This first floor area once housed computers. The glass blocks were likely placed to shield the sensitive computers from the outside elements as the windows are only single paned. Plans are currently being prepared to place energy efficient windows on the building. It is intended to remove the glass block on the first floor at the time the new windows are installed. Also, the Mayor's office complex and the Police administration on first floor have mesh screening on their windows which was added as security in the demonstration years, 1969-1970. It is hoped that these can also be removed someday.

Both the Fifth Street entrance and the Fourth Street entrances have been altered. The Fourth Street main entrance was very wide and in three sections or vestibules. The two side sections were closed to the outside and office space was built into them. Today, only the middle vestibule remains.

A public entrance no longer exists on the Fourth Avenue side. A special security garage was added in 1976-1977 as part of the jail remodeling. This was sensitively done to maintain the historical exterior of the building and appears to have succeeded, however, the pink granite of the garage has smooth surface unlike the rusticulated finish in much of the remainder of the building stone.

In the interior court because of space constraints,, a four story building was added in 1949. Prior to this construction, in 1946 some of the stained glass windows facing the rotunda were permanently backed with brick walls and are now backlighted or not lit at all. Originally, natural light shone through the stained glass above the rotunda. This was also blocked and the light is now provided by fluorescent fixtures.

The interior of the building has been significantly altered if one compares present views with original floor plans and early views. Originally there were large open areas such as the G.A.R. Hall, Mayor's Reception Area, Courtroom Number 1 and the City Council Chambers. Over the years, these areas have been subdivided for more office space. The Mayor's Reception Room now houses the Mayor's personal staff and the G.A.R. Assembly Room is now Police Department. The large Courtroom Number 1 was subdivided into four smaller courtrooms.

A mezzanine floor was added between the third and fourth floors on the City side. Because this particular construction was above the three story ornate Council Chambers, the character of the Council chambers was changed dramatically.

The fourth floor which once was dedicated to office space after 1977 became a second jail floor. In almost all interior spaces the offices have lowered ceilings to accommodate modern mechanical work and lighting.

The hallways have generally retained their original character but this too has begun changing in recent years with lowered ceilings. In 1981 during the City Council remodeling project the course of the hallway on the third floor was changed.

Building History

The Board of Court House and County Commissioners created in 1887 faced a number of problems before finally achieving success, the foremost of which was to create the understanding among the citizenry that such a massive structure was necessary. The residents of that era could not fathom that the Commissioners were building for the future. There was so much space in early years that the building housed a chicken hatchery, a blacksmith shop and a stable. As we know today, the building constantly faced space problems as reflected in the minutes of the Municipal Building Commission. The space problems were solved by forcing departments to vacate the building, by adding the mezzanine floor, the four story interior court building and finally constructing the twin-towered 24 story Hennepin County Government Center across the street.

Another problem faced by the Board of Commissioners was that the labor faction of the Board demanded the building be constructed with day labor rather than contract labor. The deadlock lasted for months until 1889 when the legislature passed a law which increased membership on the Board from nine to twelve. Contract labor was ultimately selected.

In a subsequent court action of 1891 against the Board of Commissioners, Dorilus Morrison, first Mayor of Minneapolis; Isaac Atwater, a Judge; Joel B. Bassett and Daniel Bassett, lumbermen; and William E. Steele and A. B. Barten, pioneers alleged that the building as planned would exceed the spending limits imposed by the legislature. The court decided that there was no intent to limit the spending to a fixed dollar figure.

Also, during the construction phase, it was never anticipated that granite would form the superstructure. Although It was always considered the superior material, cost was the factor, and brick was deemed more appropriate. After the granite foundation was finished the general public appreciated the workmanship and then urged that the building be entirely of granite.

Upon completion of the building, the tasks assigned to the 12 member Board of Commissioners were finished and a 1903 state law created a Municipal Building Commission to operate, maintain and allocate space within the new building. The four member Municipal Building Commission which still exists was originally the Chairman of the Board of Hennepin County Commissioners, the Mayor of Minneapolis, the County Auditor and the City Treasurer. As amended by a 1977 state law the membership is now the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, a person selected by that board (currently a county board member), the Mayor and a person appointed by the City Council (currently the President of the City Council). Probably the most notable Building Commissioner was Hubert H. Humphrey.

Originally, most city and county functions were performed in the building until it became necessary to rent outside space. The County moved to the Hennepin County Government Center in 1975 leaving only three functions in the building. Sheriff, Juvenile Court and the Adult Detention Center.

Photographs of Minneapolis City Hall