Star Tribune
December 22, 2006
When it was built in 1936, the Bunge elevator made Minneapolis the North American leader in grain storage. Today, it’s remembered as the abandoned place where a University of Minnesota student fell to her death nearly a year ago.
By 2010, the landmark grain elevator in the Southeast Como area could become a place for hundreds of people to live.
But before six buildings are demolished to make way for a new Project for Pride in Living (PPL) housing development, the city and the state want to ensure that the historical significance of the Bunge buildings isn’t lost in the rubble.
The grain-elevator complex is eligible to be on the National Register of Historic Places, but on Nov. 14 the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission approved a partial demolition because some of the buildings couldn’t be properly restored and used effectively.
Beginning with demolition, construction will start in the spring on the 236-unit Van Cleve Court affordable housing complex, said Chris Wilson, director of real estate development for PPL.
The most notable structure, the towering 227-foot “headhouse,” and the connected elevator will be saved and renovated in the new housing complex.
Because of the building’s importance, the city requires proper historical documentation before the demolition, said Dennis Gimmestad, State Historic Preservation Office compliance officer. This includes grain-elevator research and photographs of the building, both of which should be complete next month.
While historic photos show trains chugging by the elevator, the complex is now known as an abandoned nuisance in the neighborhood. Germain Vigeant, a 20-year-old University of Minnesota student, fell to her death in January after trespassing in one of the grain silos.
Gimmestad said the city is undergoing a major change as unused grain elevators are destroyed for new development. While other historic buildings find new uses, elevators are hard to renovate.
“The physical constraints are much more difficult and oftentimes require so much change they lose historical integrity,” he said.
Architecture historian Will Stark said recording the history of the building is the “last alternative to preservation.“If these buildings can’t be physically preserved, we need to preserve in some way the essence of these buildings,” said Stark, who works for the 106 Group, the firm handling the Bunge historical record. “What may seem common to us now may be less common to future generations.”
For longtime Southeast Como residents such as Connie Sullivan, keeping the notable structure in some form is important.
Sullivan, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1977, said the tower makes the neighborhood stand out.
“It’s part of our identity,” she said. “To keep this little piece of history would be nice.”
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune