Star Tribune
Minneapolis City Hall is getting renovated and the mayor and City Council are moving out for a while
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council have moved out of City Hall.
For a year, at least.
The temporary move, to a nearby city building downtown, creates logistical challenges for the highest levels of city government, and might lead to confusion for people seeking to attend public meetings or visit their elected officials.
Much of City Hall will remain open to the public, including the spacious rotunda with its distinctive “Father of Waters” sculpture. But key areas, including the third floor and council chambers, will be closed for renovations.
During the winter holiday break, Frey, the 13 council members and scores of public servants packed up offices on two floors of the rose granite seat of city government. Then, movers shuttled boxes across the intersection of S. 4th Street and 3rd Avenue S. to a city-owned building known as the “old Public Service Center” — not to be confused with the new Public Service Building.
But it’s easy to get confused. Even Google is confused.
Which building?
Here’s what most members of the public need to know.
For most of next year, the offices of the mayor, City Council and city clerk, as well as a temporary council chambers, will be located in a tired 1950s-era building — the “old Public Service Center” at 250 S. 4th St. Put that address — but just that address — into into any mapping software, and it will get you there.
Temporary offices for the City Council and city clerk will be on the first floor, council chambers on the third, and the mayor and most of his cabinet on the fifth floor.
The confusion comes when you use the phrase “Public Service Center.” Search engines, mapping programs, and even some parts of the city’s own website think you’re looking for the Public Service Building, a glass-walled building at 505 4th Av. S. that opened to the public in 2021. That’s where members of the public can meet with city staff in person to review permits, pay fees, pull police reports and navigate other parts of the city bureaucracy in the same place. (And the name of that place inside that building: the “Service Center.”) Nothing is changing with that facility.
Another potential bit of confusion: If you want to mail something to folks traditionally housed in City Hall, such as your council member or the mayor, keep using the City Hall mailing address: 350 S. 5th St., Minneapolis, MN 55415. Phone numbers and email addresses are unchanged.
And yet one more possible pitfall: Not every public meeting will be held in the 1950s building, at least not at first. Because work on the makeshift council chambers isn’t expected to be completed right away, the City Council’s first meeting of 2024, on Jan. 8, will actually be held in the Public Service Building (that’s the new glass-facaded one). To be sure where a public meeting is being held, check the city’s Legislative Information Management System online.
What renovations?
The renovations to various parts of City Hall, which was built between 1887 and 1906 and houses some Hennepin County operations as well, have been going on for several years, mostly out of public view.
The outward appearance and essence of the Romanesque revival building, which sits on the National Register of Historic Places, has remained unchanged. But inside the hollow-square-shaped structure, interior office areas have been gutted, fitted with updated infrastructure and redesigned on several lower floors, providing modern accommodations for workers in departments ranging from fire to public works. In 2021, all phases of the renovations were projected to cost about $32.5 million, paid for by the Municipal Building Commission, an entity that operates City Hall and is overseen by elected officials from the city and county.
The current phase of work will cover the third floor and a mezzanine level constructed over a portion of the third floor in the 1940s and 1950s.
The floor plan of the third floor will change. The mayor’s office will move to the opposite corner of the building from council chambers, allowing the offices of council members and the city clerk to flank the chambers.
The full reconstruction of the council offices will also eliminate a quirk that has subtly plagued the council for years: The current offices aren’t the same size, creating the potential for office-space envy among equally elected council members. The new footprint will eliminate those disparities, several council members have said, although their offices will be physically split into two clusters by the council chambers, potentially making it less convenient to collaborate.
About 50 Ukrainian refugees have signed up to donate blood on Saturday in Minneapolis as a way to give thanks to Americans for welcoming them to this country and for support in the face of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The donated blood will then be given to the Children’s Hospital of Minnesota.
The Ukrainian American Community Center, located at 301 NE Main St. in Minneapolis, has organized the event. The blood drive will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, said Iryna Petrus, community outreach manager at the center.
“It’s a sign of gratitude to Americans for supporting Ukraine and saving children’s lives in Ukraine,” said Yosyf Sabir, speaking on behalf of the blood drive.
It’s also a way to say “thank you to the United States for welcoming us so warmly,” said Petrus. She said there will be a program at 10 a.m. Saturday when several leaders of the Ukrainian American Community Center will speak. She said the center is hopeful that Ukrainian groups in other parts of North America will do similar blood drives.
Those who are unable to give blood have been asked to donate cash, which will be used to purchase tourniquets that will sent to Ukraine to be used by persons who have been injured in the war. Every $50 raised will purchase one hemostatic tourniquet, the Ukrainian Center said in a news release.
If approved, that approach would drop the district’s fund balance to 6% of general fund expenditures. The current board policy is to maintain a fund balance of at least 10% of general fund expenditures.
Anoka-Hennepin’s current operating referendum brings in about $1,154 per student, but the state-allowed cap is about $2,200 per student. If increased to the cap amount, a referendum would bring in another $40 million, McIntyre said.
According to community feedback collected through surveys and community meetings over the last month, nearly 90% of respondents said they supported a referendum. Parents and families also expressed concern about growing class sizes as a result of cuts.
The two options have already been revised based on board members’ requests to reduce cuts that would mean fewer teachers at schools, McIntyre said.
At one point in the discussion, the district floated changes to middle and high school class schedules to save money, but that was removed after board member feedback. At the board’s meeting last month, several board members thanked district staff for transparency about potential cuts and responsiveness to board and community feedback.
“I would encourage people to keep asking questions,” Board Member Michelle Langenfeld said at the September board meeting, “because as we unfold more information, the opportunity becomes greater for us to make the most informed decision under these very, very difficult circumstances.”
On Monday morning, contract workers began snipping razor wire and removing it from fencing that was propped atop concrete barriers along the perimeter of the former Third Precinct police station, which was set ablaze during the uprising over George Floyd’s police killing.
Finally, the concrete barricades will come down, after 4.5 years. As private security guards looked on, contractors began removing the security measures put in place to secure the building at 3000 Minnehaha Av. after it became a focal point of protests.
For the past three years, Third Precinct police officers have been based out of a city building in downtown Minneapolis, with plans to eventually bring them back to a south Minneapolis Community Safety Center just down the street at 2633 Minnehaha Av.
What to do with the former police station – home to what has been called a “playground” for renegade cops – has been the subject of heated debate, with the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey at odds.
While the city debated its future, some conservatives jumped at the chance to use the charred building as a backdrop to hold press conferences and news reports in which they blasted the city and its leaders. Most recently, vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a campaign stop in front of the building earlier this month to blast his opponent, Gov. Tim Walz, for his handling of the 2020 riots and portray Minneapolis as a city overrun with crime.
GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance speaks outside the former Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct building in Minneapolis on Oct. 14. (Leila Navidi)
After that, several council members expressed frustration at the city’s failure to clean up the site. Despite signs saying “cleanup efforts are underway,” concrete barriers, fencing and razor wire remained all summer.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said earlier this month that the blight makes people feel uncared for and gives opportunists a backdrop to manipulate the scene for political gain.
Council Member Linea Palmisano blamed some of her council colleagues for the delays, accusing some members of being “desperate for any objection” to Frey’s proposal. The council passed a resolution saying that the building should not be used for any law enforcement functions again. Palmisano called it disgraceful that the building remains, scarred and secured, over four years later.
