Hennepin Center for the Arts
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Address: 524-30 Hennepin Avenue
Neighborhood: Downtown West
Construction Date: 1888-90
Contractor: Unknown
Architect: Long and Kees
Architectural Style: Richardsonian Romanesque
Historic Use: Commercial
Current Use: Commercial
Date of Local Designation: 1980
Date of National Register Designation: 1975
Area(s) of Significance: Architecture, Master architects
Period of Significance: 1800-1899, 1900 -
Historic Profile: Adorning the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 6 th Street for over a century, the Masonic Temple is an exemplary representative of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture. The architecture firm of Long and Kees employed Romanesque techniques, extremely popular in the 1880s, to design offices and lodging space for the Masonic Temple Association of Minneapolis. Careful attention to exterior detail is found in the intricately carved motifs, especially along the Hennepin Avenue façade. The words "Masonic Temple" along with the symbols of the terrestrial and celestial globes were carved into the sandstone. The building remains in good condition; however the two Moorish onion domes placed on the corner towers were removed due to deterioration. In 1978 the building was purchased and renovated as the Hennepin Center for the Arts to provide performing, teaching, studio and office facilities for non-profit arts organizations.
Photo Credits:
1900, courtesy of The Minnesota Historical Society
2006, Minneapolis CPED
Works Cited:
"National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Form," February 1975.
Updated: February 2007