I lost my wallet on the bus Monday morning. I’ve been feeling like most of me was missing for the past few days.But through perseverance and excellent customer service, Metro Transit retrieved it for me today…with absolutely nothing missing. And kudos to whomever turned it into the lost and found. You literally made my week.The cosmos smiled at me today…and I needed that really bad. Thank you. (PS: how cool would it be to have a Gold Medal Flour wallet?)
“The Mighty Met,” a victim of urban renewal. Think of what the Gateway District (Washington, Nicollet, and Hennepin Avenues) would look like now if that building was still there!
Here is an illustrated journey of the iron balustrade sections that come from the Metropolitan Building… now we have some of them here. The interior of that building was truly something breathtaking and unique. Own a piece of history. The demolition of the Met is often pointed to as the watershed moment that sparked the preservation activism efforts here in Minneapolis and even around the United States. A two-day demolition sale is the real reason why these balustrades are still floating around- but they are STILL VERY VERY RARE. You can never expect to just run upon one of these at just any old salvage place. These are museum-grade examples of the ironwork that graced the Metropolitan and other Minneapolis buildings built in the late 1800s. The slanted rail is from the stairway sets. How cool is this though?
As one of my heroes Larry Millet, former architectural critic (that was a thing!) for the St. Paul Pioneer Press once observed: That was the largest act of civic vandalism ever done in Minneapolis. Forever saddened that I never got to see that building.
GPOYT, I have her a day earlier this week edition.
Stretch & Z Super Bowl special, 1992. Guest appearances by John Gallos and former Gov. Arne Carlson. One of my favorite shows of all time.
Pray for the dead. Fight like hell for the living.
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Mary “Mother” Jones (PS: if can, text ‘REDCROSS’ to 90999 to donate $10 to the relief effort in Moore, Oklahoma)
Thomas Lowry was the founder of the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company. At one point, it stretched from Minnetonka in the west to Stillwater in the east. A serial speculator, he managed to develop the still largely intact transit system that us Twin Citians use to this day...and lots of valuable real estate. This is not an ode to him per se, but just a fun page that will (probably) be fairly Minneapolis history-centric. (BTW: my name is Andy, and you can also find me here on Twitter. or email me at simplefolk75 at yahoo dot com)
