Address: 427 Cedar Avenue
Neighborhood: Cedar Riverside
Construction Date: 1886
Contractor: B. Aronson
Architect: Carl Struck
Architectural Style: Victorian Eclectic
Historic Use: Theater, office, retail
Current Use: Burned and demolished in 2000
Date of Local Designation: 1976
Date of National Designation: 1974, de-listed in 2000
Area of Significance: Architecture, social/cultural history
Period of Significance: 1886-
Historic Profile: Dania Hall was built for the Society Dania, a community association whose mission was to assist Danish immigrants. The basement and first floor of the building housed a variety of retail tenants, as well as a dining hall for the Society Dania. The second floor housed a library and offices, while the third and fourth floors were occupied by the building’s theater. The theater could accommodate 600 people on its main floor, in seating that could be rearranged for dances and banquets. An additional 200 people could be seated in the balcony. Dania Hall was a focal point of both the Cedar Riverside community and Scandinavian-American culture for decades, hosting receptions, meetings, and performances. In the 1940s the building began to decline in prominence, as the neighborhood underwent significant cultural change, culminating in the sale of the building in 1963. The building continued to be used for performances for a short time, until the theater and basement were closed in 1968. From the 1970s through the 1990s restoration was attempted by a variety of private and public actors, including Cedar Riverside Associates, the West Bank Community Development Corporation, and the Minneapolis Community Development Agency. However, after suffering significant fires in both 1991 and 2000, the property was determined structurally unsound and demolished in 2000.
Photo Credits:
Photographer unknown, 1906. Reproduced by Cedar Riverside PAC, 1977.
Works Cited:
“Dania Hall” (1977) Cedar Riverside Project Area Committee
“Rehabilitation Possibilities in Cedar Riverside” (1977) Cedar Riverside PAC Development Committee
CPED Files, 1974-2000