urbanMSP

Eh, it's a more accessible location for the Rec Sports Bubble (Aside: I can't get over how great it is that "Bubble" is apparently it's official name) than the current location down at the dead-end moonscape of 8th St.

Also, this kinda ties into the discussion about art and architecture we're having in the Washington Square thread. Unlike concrete silos, which are at least solid enough to be converted into some other type of building (at great expense), steel ones are thin enough that they aren't really good for anything expect storing bulk goods. There's no indication that bulk good storage will ever again be a desired use in what is turning into a research/technology/housing neighborhood. So, like FMP says, the option is either tear it down to do something useful with the land, or hold onto it forever as a four-acre sculpture garden with 32 identical sculptures.

Yeah, I'm a pretty strong historic preservation advocate, but this one seems like a stretch. There are other grain elevators in the vicinity which are better candidates to take a stand on.

Perhaps they could retain a single bin as part of an interpretive element at the site.

I just really don't like what it's being replaced with

Well, they'll probably replace it with a biomedical building eventually.

The best hope is that someone just buys it to hold it forever so we can look at it? Man I don't know.

I know. Take lots of picture. Heck, create some fancy 3D models. Presto! Just as "preserved" as if it was sitting there behind a bunch of fences.

It's one thing to preserve buildings that still functions. This one doesn't, and no one can seem to find a way to make it do so. End of story.

I'm hopeful that this incident will prompt a more thorough investigation into efforts to preserve/adapt/reuse the remaining concrete elevators in the area. I'm optimistic that there is definitely a way to do that, with the right mindset and ingenuity. I do like MNdible's idea of retaining a single steel elevator, though I doubt it would happen.

It's unfortunate, but hopefully this will lead to better efforts in the future.

I won't lose any sleep over this "loss". If the land can be used in better ways then why preserve a functionless structure?

Well that blows. I love the Electric Steel elevators.

Hold up. Y'all completely missed the point of the article, which wasn't really about the merits of preserving the elevator. The bigger issue here is whether the U of M can completely bypass the city's historic designation system even outside of campus boundaries so long as no state or fed funds are used to demo it.

Also, people have quite literally died trying to explore these structures. Doesn't that say at least something about the desire to see these structures preserved?

Eh... I'd be more concerned if the city's historic designation system wasn't primarily used for obstructionism.

Also, people have quite literally died trying to explore these structures. Doesn't that say at least something about the desire to see these structures preserved?

Yes, it says that there are very good reasons to tear them down, in addition to them being useless hulks.

Apparently the Regents read all of the good ideas I post here.

At least somebody is paying attention.

I love the Electric Steel Elevators and will be sad to see them go without any serious effort to find an adaptive reuse. It's not been all that long since the site ceased operation (late 2014?), and in a presentation to the neighborhood, the owners who sold it to the U said that they had only sought proposals for continued use as elevators. Instead the University bypasses collaborative planning it had agreed to in principle, and rushes to tear them down and put a "sports bubble" there. Multiple proposals have been suggested in lines with the vision the University and neighbors had agreed to: a district heat and energy plant, data storage facility, art center--all have potential for some sort of adaptive reuse. But the University, instead of working collaboratively as it promised, and which is, I believe, legislatively mandated, moved quickly and unilaterally to raze them. It may ultimately be the best thing to do, but there hasn't been any serious effort to explore other options, and I'd prefer to see a finite amount of time and resources given to that effort.

Demo on the elevators is underway. It looks like they're taking down the adjacent concrete elevators to the southeast as well... sad. Not going to be much industrial architecture left over here.

So I guess the impending lawsuit isn't going to bother them? Great.

Worked for Hy-Vee in Robbinsdale!

Demo on the elevators is underway. It looks like they're taking down the adjacent concrete elevators to the southeast as well... sad. Not going to be much industrial architecture left over here.

Just the directly adjacent ones, right? Not the UNITED CRUSHERS complex? That one I could see preserving.

The university does not own United Crushers so I do not think that one is immediately at risk. Could someone post a picture. I am out of state or I would do so myself.

FWIW, the drawings for the Green on 4th project (PDFs here, see page 17) do call out the United Crushers elevator as being "preserved". For my money, they are definitely the elevator complex that's worth focusing our preservation efforts on; it's a very imposing structure, and it also has a cool alignment to Washington Avenue.

Suit has been filed to halt demolition of the electric steel elevators with the same attorney that saved Peavy Plaza:
https://www.minnpost.com/politics-polic ... -elevators

And some more info about what led us here:
https://www.minnpost.com/politics-polic ... -decision-

Does anyone know why Peter Callaghan has taken on saving this elevator as his personal crusade? With as much time, energy, effort and words he has put into saving it I think he should be required to purchase it if he's successful. No one else to my knowledge has come up with anything that remotely resembles a economically viable future use of complex but he surely has an idea or two in mind. Or does he just want to to continue to sit there and let people look at because...history?