Metropolitan dreams : the scandalous rise and stunning fall of a Minneapolis masterpiece /
Millett, Larry, 1947-
Metropolitan dreams : the scandalous rise and stunning fall of a Minneapolis masterpiece / Larry Millett. - 245 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
When it opened in 1890, the twelve-story Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building was the tallest, largest, and most splendid commercial structure in Minneapolis, a mighty stone skyscraper built for the ages. How this grand Richardsonian Romanesque edifice, which later came to be called the Metropolitan Building, rose with the growth of Minneapolis only to fall in the throes of the city's postwar renewal, is revealed in 'Metropolitan Dreams' in all its scandalous intrigue. It is a tale of urban growing pains and architectural ghosts and of colorful, sometimes criminal characters amid the grandeur and squalor of building and rebuilding a city's skyline. Dubious as its financial beginnings might have been, the economic circumstances of the Metropolitan's demise were at least as questionable. Anchoring Minneapolis's historic Gateway District in its heyday, the building's fortunes shifted with the city's demographics and finally it fell victim to the fervor of one of the largest downtown urban renewal projects ever undertaken in the United States. Though the long and furious battle to save the Metropolitan ultimately failed in 1962, its ghost persists in the passion for historic preservation stirred by its demise - and in 'Metropolitan Dreams', whose photographs, architectural drawings, and absorbing narrative bring the building and its story to vibrant, enduring life.
9781517904166 1517904161
2018016691
Mix, E. Townsend, 1831-1890.
Metropolitan Building (Minneapolis, Minn.)--History.
Skyscrapers--Minnesota--Minneapolis.
Lost architecture--Minnesota--Minneapolis.
Minneapolis (Minn.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--History.
Minneapolis (Minn.)--History.
Metropolitan dreams : the scandalous rise and stunning fall of a Minneapolis masterpiece / Larry Millett. - 245 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
When it opened in 1890, the twelve-story Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building was the tallest, largest, and most splendid commercial structure in Minneapolis, a mighty stone skyscraper built for the ages. How this grand Richardsonian Romanesque edifice, which later came to be called the Metropolitan Building, rose with the growth of Minneapolis only to fall in the throes of the city's postwar renewal, is revealed in 'Metropolitan Dreams' in all its scandalous intrigue. It is a tale of urban growing pains and architectural ghosts and of colorful, sometimes criminal characters amid the grandeur and squalor of building and rebuilding a city's skyline. Dubious as its financial beginnings might have been, the economic circumstances of the Metropolitan's demise were at least as questionable. Anchoring Minneapolis's historic Gateway District in its heyday, the building's fortunes shifted with the city's demographics and finally it fell victim to the fervor of one of the largest downtown urban renewal projects ever undertaken in the United States. Though the long and furious battle to save the Metropolitan ultimately failed in 1962, its ghost persists in the passion for historic preservation stirred by its demise - and in 'Metropolitan Dreams', whose photographs, architectural drawings, and absorbing narrative bring the building and its story to vibrant, enduring life.
9781517904166 1517904161
2018016691
Mix, E. Townsend, 1831-1890.
Metropolitan Building (Minneapolis, Minn.)--History.
Skyscrapers--Minnesota--Minneapolis.
Lost architecture--Minnesota--Minneapolis.
Minneapolis (Minn.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--History.
Minneapolis (Minn.)--History.