Heritage Preservation Commission

Welcome to the 2010 Walking Tours!

Celebrate summer this year by enjoying a walking tour of historic Minneapolis! Explore areas that range from cultural gathering places and residential neighborhoods, to bustling commercial and industrial areas, to the theaters of Hennepin Avenue and remnants of the city’s once extensive streetcar system.

PLEASE NOTE

Click here for a link to the brochure, or put together a tour of your favorites! Profiles of all locally designated landmarks and districts can be found on the city’s website. www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/landmarks

For more information – 612.673.2615

For accessibility questions – 612.673.2157 TTY

Summer Walking Tours are sponsored by CPED Planning, the Minneapolis HPC, and Preserve Minneapolis.

The Planning Division of the Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development Department (CPED Planning) provides preservation-related services within Minneapolis including professional review for permit applications, long-term planning, and education and outreach efforts. Planning staff conducts reviews and prepares recommendations that are delivered at public hearings before the HPC.

The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC), formed in 1972, serves as a citizen advisory body to the Minneapolis City Council. HPC is part of a nation-wide network of groups dedicated to the preservation and celebration of our local and national heritage. The Commission holds public hearings twice each month. The public is welcome to attend and highly encouraged to participate.

Preserve Minneapolis is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Minneapolis by recognizing, preserving, and revitalizing the architectural and related cultural resources of the city of Minneapolis. Every month we hold a free meeting or tour. Check our website: www.preserveminneapolis.org

2010 Historic Resources Inventory: South Minneapolis

CPED-Planning is conducting a historic resource survey of the following neighborhoods: Hale, Keewaydin, Ericsson, Field, Page, Minnehaha, Diamond Lake, Wenonah, Morris Park, Regina, Northrop, Corcoran, Bryant, Bancroft and Standish to assess the potential for historic properties.

Since 2001, CPED has conducted a phased re-survey of historic resources in Minneapolis. This project has been funded by grants from the Minnesota Historical Society and matched by City dollars. This year’s survey will help achieve the City’s goal of documenting historic resources throughout the entire city over a ten-year period.

Community Meeting #1:

On May 26, 2010 CPED held a community meeting from 6:30 to 8 pm at McCrae Recreation Center. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the survey project and offer an opportunity for the community to provide information and ideas about historic resources within the survey area. May 23, 2010 Community Meeting Presentation.

To facilitate the discussion on historic resources in the survey area staff prepared three questions. CPED has prepared an online survey with these same three questions to allow for increased community participation. Click here to take the survey.

Upcoming Community Meetings:

All meetings will be held at McCrae Recreation Center: 906 47^th Street East, Minneapolis

Community Meeting # 2: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 6:30 – 8 pm

Community Meeting #3: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 6:30 – 8 pm

2010 Preservation Award Winners

On May 20^th, the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC), the Minneapolis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and Preserve Minneapolis celebrated the recipients of this year’s preservation awards. Awards were made for exemplary projects and to individuals and community organizations that enhance the heritage and historic character of Minneapolis.  These awards highlight the year’s best achievements for transforming or preserving a historic property, building, or landscape.  Recognition was also given to those who submit projects that incorporate both new and old elements in a way that that is respectful to the past.  Submissions were judged on attention to the quality of design, architecture, workmanship, and materials as well as the positive impact on the surrounding neighborhood and community.

2010 Preservation Award Winners

Minneapolis Public Schools Historic Context Study

In 2004, the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission commissioned a historic context study of the Minneapolis Public Schools.  The historic context study spans more than 100 years and the approximately 140 buildings constructed, acquired, maintained, expanded, and sometimes removed by the Minneapolis School Board of Education between 1849 and 1962.  The timeframe extends from the first public schools constructed in Minneapolis to the expansion of the elementary and junior high schools for the post-World War II baby-boom generation.

Historic context studies provide a framework for evaluating historic resources relative to specific themes, timeframes and locations and are useful for many types of preservation-planning activity.  The development of public-school building types is the primary focus of this study, as school types reflected national trends in educational building design as well as the attention of local architectural firms and the Board of Education’s own architects.  While public schools have played a great role in the development of the City’s neighborhoods and in fact share their names with many of them, this study does not analyze school histories or the variety of local events that have taken place in the facilities.  Instead it examines the creation and maintenance of the school physical plant as evidenced by Minneapolis Board of Education policy and building design and describes the relationship of each remaining property to advances in school construction and program development.  The historic context narrative includes an inventory of existing schools, including those now in private ownership.  Inventory forms for all properties are on file with the HPC.

If you have questions about this context study, please contact Jack Byers at 612-673-2634.

Heritage Landmarks and Districts Website

The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission and Minneapolis CPED are excited to announce the launch of a new website that will serve as an interactive database for discovering and researching locally historic landmarks and districts in Minneapolis. Profiles for each landmark and district include historic and recent photographs, key facts such as architects, styles, and the year of construction, as well as a brief paragraph describing each landmark’s unique contribution to Minneapolis’ history. Check it out at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/landmarks/!