Hennepin County Government Center

Last updated
Hennepin County Government Center
Hennepin County Government Center 2018.jpg
Hennepin County Government Center viewed from the south
Hennepin County Government Center
General information
Location Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Coordinates 44°58′33″N93°16′0″W / 44.97583°N 93.26667°W / 44.97583; -93.26667
Construction started1969
Completed1974
Height403 feet (123 meters)
Technical details
Floor count24
Design and construction
Architecture firm Warnecke & Associates

Hennepin County Government Center is the courthouse and primary county government administration building for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in downtown Minneapolis, the county seat of Hennepin County. Before its construction, the Hennepin County government offices were housed in the Minneapolis City Hall-Hennepin County Courthouse. The building was opened in 1974 and occupied in stages in 1975. [1]

Contents

Building

Looking up while in the atrium separating the two halves of the tower. Atrium in the Hennepin County Government Center.jpg
Looking up while in the atrium separating the two halves of the tower.

The building was designed by the architectural firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates. It was dedicated in 1973 and completed in 1977. It is 403 feet (123 m) tall and has 24 stories. When viewed from the northeast or southwest sides, it takes on the appearance of a stylized letter H. This shape serves as the logo of Hennepin County. Each side of the "H" is a separate tower. The towers are connected by catwalk bridges on several floors. The whole is enclosed by glass windows to form an atrium. In early 2015 remodeling was done on the skyway-level public area, which now features new seating, high-top tables with electrical outlets, lighting and flat screen TVs.

The southeast side is known as the court tower. It houses courtrooms, county attorney offices, and the Hennepin County Law Library. The northwest side houses county administrative offices such as social services and county records.

Location

The Hennepin County Government Center is built over 6th Street using the air rights over the street, which enabled two large plazas to be built in the city blocks.

It is connected by a tunnel to the Minneapolis City Hall, underneath 5th Street and the METRO Blue and Green lines. The Government Plaza METRO station is between the two buildings. The tunnel also connects to the federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

The building has a skyway link to the US Bank Plaza Building (formerly Pillsbury Center). The link to the Thrivent (formerly Lutheran Brotherhood) headquarters building was closed in June 2018 due to demolition of an adjacent parking ramp and planned construction of a new Minneapolis public service center.

There is a separate secure tunnel to the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility (jail) located diagonally across the plaza.

History

Before its construction, the Hennepin County government offices were housed in the Minneapolis City Hall-Hennepin County Courthouse.

After earlier suicides by jumping from the catwalk bridges, 10-foot high Plexiglass wall panels were added to the bridges & balconies throughout the building in the 1980s. [2]

Following a deadly shooting within the court tower in 2003, new security measures were implemented. [3] New metal detectors were installed, along with X-ray equipment. The 2nd-floor lobby service desks at the skyway level were re-configured to accommodate the changes.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyway</span> Elevated type of pedway

A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclosed or covered footbridges that protect pedestrians from the weather. Open-top modern skyways in mountains now often have glass bottoms. Sometimes enclosed urban skywalks are made almost totally from glass, including ceilings, walls and floors. Also, some urban skyways function strictly as linear parks designed for walking.

An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of these. Underground cities may be currently active modern creations or they may be historic including ancient sites, some of which may be all or partially open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Center, Boston</span> Area in downtown Boston, Massachusetts

Government Center is an area in downtown Boston, centered on City Hall Plaza. Formerly the site of Scollay Square, it is now the location of Boston City Hall, courthouses, state and federal office buildings, and a major MBTA subway station, also called Government Center. Its development was controversial, as the project displaced thousands of residents and razed several hundred homes and businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Building (Minneapolis)</span> Structure in Minneapolis, MN, USA

The Metropolitan Building, originally known as the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building, is considered to be one of the most architecturally significant structures in the history of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It stood from 1890 until it was torn down starting in 1961 as part of major urban renewal efforts in the city that saw about 40% of the downtown district razed and replaced with new structures. At the time, the pending destruction of the Richardsonian Romanesque building provided a catalyst for historic preservation movements in the city and across the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis City Hall</span> United States historic place

Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse, designed by Long and Kees in 1888, is the main building used by the city government of Minneapolis, as well as by Hennepin County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The structure has served as mainly local government offices since it was built, and today the building is 60 percent occupied by the city and 40 percent occupied by the County. The building is jointly owned by the city and county and managed by the Municipal Building Commission. The Commission consists of the chair of the County Board, the mayor of the City of Minneapolis, a member of the County Board and a member of the Minneapolis City Council. The County Board chair serves as the president of the Commission and the mayor serves as the vice president. The building bears a striking resemblance to the city hall buildings in Cincinnati and Toronto. The City Hall and Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Plaza station</span> Light rail station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Government Plaza station is a Metro light rail station on the Blue Line and Green Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The station is located on 5th Street South, between 3rd and 4th Avenues South in downtown Minneapolis. This station opened on June 26, 2004, with initial light rail service in the Twin Cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Pedway</span> System of pedestrian tunnels and walkways in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Pedway is a network of tunnels, ground-level concourses and bridges in Chicago, Illinois connecting skyscrapers, retail stores, hotels, and train stations throughout the central business district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicollet Island</span> Island on the Mississippi River in central Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of 194,407 square metres (0.075 sq mi) and a 2000 census population of 144 persons. The island makes up a large part of the city-designated Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood. The island is named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet, who mapped the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central, Minneapolis</span> Community of Minneapolis

Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes the many old flour mills, the Mill District, and other historical and industrial areas of downtown Minneapolis. It also includes some high-density residential areas surrounding it, excluding areas east of the Mississippi River. Businesses and government buildings are based in the Central area include the corporate headquarters of the Star Tribune, Target, US Bancorp, the Hennepin County Government Center, Minneapolis Central Library, Minneapolis City Hall, and the broadcast facilities of the Minnesota CBS station WCCO-TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayo Clinic Square</span>

Mayo Clinic Square on Block E in downtown Minneapolis, is a building bounded by Hennepin Avenue, North 6th Street, North 7th Street, and 1st Avenue North. It is part of the Downtown West neighborhood in Minneapolis, historically known as the Warehouse District. It is one block south of the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue light rail station on the METRO Blue and Green lines. "Block E" is a City planning department designation of the block; other blocks have similar designations

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gateway District (Minneapolis)</span> Human settlement in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

The Gateway District of Minneapolis is centered at the convergence of Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Avenue, and Washington Avenue. Its borders are not officially designated or recognized, but are visible as the Mississippi River to the northeast, Cedar Lake Trail and the railroad tracks to the northwest, Fifth Avenue South to the southeast. and Fourth Street South to the southwest. The district includes a significant part of the Downtown West neighborhood and abuts the North Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Municipal Tower</span> Skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington

Seattle Municipal Tower is a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. At 220.07 m (722.0 ft), it is the fifth-tallest building in the city. Completed in 1990, it was initially named AT&T Gateway Tower and subsequently KeyBank Tower after its anchor tenants AT&T and KeyBank. It was given its current name on May 17, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis Skyway System</span> Pedestrian skyway system in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connect various buildings in 80 full city blocks over 9.5 miles (15.3 km) of Downtown Minneapolis, enabling people to walk in climate-controlled comfort year-round. The skyways are owned by individual buildings in Minneapolis, and as such they do not have uniform opening and closing times. The 9.5 miles of skyway are comparable to the Houston tunnel system, the systems in Canadian cities such as Toronto's PATH, Montreal's Underground City, Calgary's 11-mile +15 system and the 8-mile Edmonton Pedway system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beltrami County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Beltrami County Courthouse is a historic government building in Bemidji, Minnesota, United States. It was erected in 1902 as the seat of government for Beltrami County. District court functions relocated in 1974 to the newly completed Beltrami County Judicial Center immediately to the southwest, and the historic courthouse has been remodeled to house government offices. The old courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 for its state-level significance in the themes of architecture and politics/government. It was nominated for its status in Beltrami County as its long-serving center government and as its most prominent example of public architecture and Beaux-Arts style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">33 South Sixth</span> Skyscraper

33 South Sixth, formerly known as International Multifoods Tower, is a skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and stands 52 stories tall at 668 ft (204 m). Its name comes from its address: 33 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis. It was completed in 1983 as headquarters for International Multifoods Corporation, which occupied the structure until 1997 when it moved to suburban Wayzata. Although the corporate offices relocated, the name remained until 2003 under the terms of its lease. Adjacent to the tower is the Minneapolis City Center shopping mall, which occupies the ground level, skyway, and third levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Bank Plaza (Minneapolis)</span>

The US Bank Plaza is a two-tower high-rise building complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota. US Bank Plaza I is a 561-foot (171 m) tall, 40-floor skyscraper. US Bank Plaza II is a 321-foot (98 m) tall, 23-floor skyscraper. Originally called Pillsbury Center, the complex was completed in 1981. The complex has a 500 car parking garage below and is connected by skyway to the Capella Tower, Hennepin County Government Center, Canadian Pacific Plaza, and the McKnight Building. Tower I served as the corporate headquarters of the Pillsbury Company from its 1981 completion until Pillsbury's acquisition by General Mills in 2001. The name of the building was changed to US Bank Plaza in 2004. The towers are clad in travertine marble and have bronze-tinted reflective windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaSalle Plaza</span> Mixed Use Office in Minneapolis, Minnesota

LaSalle Plaza is a Class A skyscraper located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that is 387 ft tall. It is the 20th-tallest building in the city and fills a city block, bound by 8th Street S, LaSalle Avenue, 9th Street S, and Hennepin Avenue. The complex includes a thirty-story office tower and a two-story retail base. It was designed and developed in 1991 around the pre-existing Historic State Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Saint Paul</span> Neighborhood in Ramsey, Minnesota, United States

Downtown Saint Paul is the central business district of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the south, University Avenue to the north, US 52 to the east, and Kellogg Boulevard to the west. It is bounded by the Dayton's Bluff, Summit-University, West Seventh, Frogtown, West Side, and Payne-Phalen neighborhoods. The West Side neighborhood is on the other side of the river, and can be accessed via the Robert Street Bridge or the Wabasha Street Bridge. Interstate 35E and Interstate 94 run through the north side of the neighborhood, providing a separation between the Minnesota State Capitol and other state government buildings with the rest of downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupy Minneapolis</span>

Occupy Minneapolis (OccupyMN) is a grassroots collaboration that began in October 2011 with a series of demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Protesters have staged numerous occupations, most notably of the Hennepin County Government Center plaza.

References

  1. https://www.hennepin.us/your-government/overview/overview-of-hennepin-county Hennepin County - History
  2. "Man safe after threatening to jump at HennCo gov't center". MPR News. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  3. Hennepin County shooting prompts new look at security. Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio September 29, 2003.