Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse

Minneapolis City Hall, Franklin Bidwell Long and Frederick G. Kees, architects, finished 1906 (view from northeast)

Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse (also known as the Municipal Building) is the main building used by the city government of Minneapolis, Minnesota, also serving Hennepin County. The current structure has served many different purposes since it was built, although today the building is mostly used by the city since a modern Hennepin County Government Center now sits across a plaza to the south. The structure is still jointly owned by the city and county. Construction began in 1888 and officially ended in 1909. Cost was about US$3,554,000, which works out to 28¢ per cubic foot ($10/m³). It replaced an earlier building that existed from 1873 until 1912 near the old intersection between Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue. That structure was replaced by Gateway Park until it too fell under the wrecking ball.

Current structure

Today's city hall, located at 350 South Fifth Street, is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The design is based upon Henry Hobson Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the time of construction, the building claimed to have the world's largest clock, with faces four inches (100 mm) larger than those of the Great Clock in London (which houses the famous hour bell Big Ben). The tower housing the clock reaches 345 feet (105 m) in height, and was the tallest structure in the city until the 1920s when the Foshay Tower was built. A 15 bell carillon in the tower is played regularly, with noontime concerts provided to the public a few times per week.

Inside, there is a large rotunda including a large sculpture, "Father of Waters," by American sculptor Larkin Goldsmith Mead who lived in Florence, Italy at the time. It was completed and placed inside the building in 1906.

The building is built of Ortonville granite, with many stones greater than 20 tons in weight. The granite was originally only going to be used for the foundation of the building, with brick used for the upper portion. However, the public appreciated the appearance of the foundation so much that they lobbied for the entire building to be made of granite. This may be a reason for the significant cost overruns—it was originally expected to cost only $1.15 million.

Some of the interior uses Bedford stone from Indiana, particularly in the rotunda. Originally, the building had a red terra cotta roof, but it began leaking in the 1940s so a copper roof was installed on top of that in 1950. At 180,000 pounds (81,600 kg), it was said to be the largest in the country. Today, the copper has turned green.

Over the years, some of the larger spaces in the building were subdivided to make more office space. Another building was even built in the center courtyard to alleviate space constraints. In the 1980s, planning began to convert some of the spaces back to their original design.

Unlike most buildings in downtown Minneapolis, there aren't any skyways connecting the city hall to the rest of the city. Since any attempt at that would likely have been architecturally disastrous, tunnels were constructed instead.

The City Hall and Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

References

• (2001). A History of Minneapolis: Municipal Building. Minneapolis Public Library. Accessed September 18, 2004.
• Steve Ristuben and William Scott (1981). HABS/HAER MN-30 documentation. National Park Service/Library of Congress. Accessed September 19, 2004.