Minnesota Building

About this property

The Minnesota Building is a historic office building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on June 10, 2009. The building was noted for its design, which was a harbinger for the transition from Classical architecture to the Art Deco/Moderne among commercial buildings in downtown Saint Paul; originally designed in a conservative style, the building became more Moderne as it was being built. The Minnesota Building is a thirteen-story office tower located on the corner of East 4th Street and Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul. It is built of reinforced concrete and has a polished Indiana Limestone facing. The structure's primary facades face the streets to the north and west, and have entrance bays flanked by commercial display window bays at the pedestrial level and vertical window shafts separated by limestone piers between the second and thirteenth stories. At the pedestrian level, the East Fourth Street facade is symmetrical with the main building entrance flanked by display window bays and tall pedestrian openings on the outer corners. On the Cedar Street side the building's secondary entrance is flanked by three display window bays to either side. On both primary facades the base is sheathed with polished pink and gray marble. Directly above each bay opening is a narrow band of decorative, colored tile. The main entrance is recessed and displays two sets of brass plated doors flanked by wrought iron and glass display cases. Above the doors and cases is a band of cresting with a center metal plaque reading "MINNESOTA BUILDING". Above the cresting are five large transom windows, with the building address "46" painted in gold on the center window. The top of the entry recess is framed with decorative cream-colored terra cotta, which continues along the ceiling. In addition, the entrance has two large brass wall lanterns and, above the entrance, is a low-relief stone version of the Seal of Minnesota, flanked by two stylized eagles facing inward. The secondary entrance is similar to the main entrance, except the bay opening is not as tall and has only a short horizontal transom above the entry doors along with smaller wall lanterns. The tall pedestrian openings are crowned with terra cotta scrollwork. The opening facing the street corner also has a recessed corner shop entry. The two entrances are further defined by side piers and two piers directly above which are decorated with raised stone shafts stepping and terminating with floral motifs halfway up the third story. An ornate terra cotta belt separates the second and third stories. Simple raised edge banding occurs in stone between the eleventh and twelfth stories. The building has no cornice; it was one of the first buildings in the area to dispense with them. Above the twelfth story, the attic story, is a blind frieze of checkered stonework, terminating in a toothy crown formed by the rise of the piers above the parapet in stepped, zigzag finials. The spandrels between the buildings windows were cast in a geometric pattern and set flush with the piers, spreading the checkered motif downward across the entire facade. The building originally had double hung windows on the upper floors, however they were replaced in 1974 with metal-clad windows.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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