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Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire

1982 disasters in the United States1982 fires1982 in MinnesotaArson in MinnesotaBuilding fires in the United States
Buildings and structures in MinneapolisChimney effect firesCommercial building firesHigh-rise firesHistory of MinneapolisNovember 1982 events in the United StatesVague or ambiguous geographic scope from May 2021

The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire destroyed two buildings, covering an entire block of Downtown Minneapolis on November 25–26, 1982: the 16-story headquarters of Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo) and the vacant, partially demolished location formerly occupied by Donaldson's department store, which had recently moved across the street to the new City Center mall. Nobody was injured or killed as a result of the fire, though 10 firefighters were treated at hospitals. The Minneapolis Fire Department quickly determined the cause of the fire as arson. Shortly thereafter, two juveniles were arrested for setting the fire, using an acetylene torch found at the partially demolished Donaldson's site. The charges were later dropped In 1988, Northwestern National Bank (then called Norwest Corporation) constructed a 57-story César Pelli-designed headquarters on the site of the Bank building. The new headquarters is now known as the Wells Fargo Center, after Norwest merged with Wells Fargo. The Donaldson's half of the block is occupied by the Saks Fifth Avenue wing of Gaviidae Common, an upscale shopping mall.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire
Minneapolis Skyway, Minneapolis

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N 44.976944444444 ° E -93.270833333333 °
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Wells Fargo Center

Minneapolis Skyway
55402 Minneapolis
Minnesota, United States
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Wells Fargo Center (Minneapolis)
Wells Fargo Center (Minneapolis)

The Wells Fargo Center (90 South 7th St), formerly known as Norwest Center, is the third-tallest building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after the IDS Center and the Capella Tower. Completed in 1988, it is 774 feet (235.6 m) tall. For many years, this was believed to be one foot shorter than Capella, but that structure actually had a different height (see the Capella Tower article for details). Norwest Center was designed with a modernized art deco style by César Pelli, reflecting nearby structures such as the nearby CenturyLink Building and the Foshay Tower, which is several blocks away. It is also considered by many to be a homage to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Wells Fargo Center sits on the site of the old Northwestern National Bank Building, which was destroyed in a fire in 1982. The original design called for a 45-story tower with a square footprint that would have been crowned the tallest building in Minneapolis; however, the site was halved in size, requiring the building's design to be changed to what it is today. Northwestern National, renamed Norwest Corporation, maintained its headquarters here. Despite Norwest's adoption of the Wells Fargo identity after acquiring the latter and moving to San Francisco in 1998, significant regional operations are still maintained in this building. Other major tenants include the law firm of Faegre Drinker and the local office of accounting firm KPMG. It is brilliantly lit at night from sunset through midnight, with floodlamps pointing up from the setback rooftops to illuminate the sides of the building. Despite this, it is still much more energy efficient than the previous building and in 2000, it was recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as one of the 100 most energy efficient buildings in the USA. In 1989, the building was praised by the Urban Land Institute, who honored it with their Award for Excellence in Large Scale Office Development. It is located at 90 South 7th Street. Gaviidae Common, a neighboring shopping center, was also designed by Pelli and built at the same time. A branch of the Wells Fargo History Museum was located in the skyway level. The museum's exhibits included an 1863 stagecoach, telegraph equipment, gold nuggets and coins. It closed in September of 2020.As of April of 2019, Starwood Capital Group acquired Wells Fargo Center for $314 million. The sellers were Hines and Blackstone.

Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank (1942)
Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank (1942)

The 1942 Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank building in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is a former bank building that is now the home of a Westin Hotel. The building is an example of the Streamline Moderne phase of the Art Deco movement and is notable for its bold relief sculptures of a farmer and a mechanic framing the main entrance. The sculptures were designed by Warren T. Mosman, who headed the sculpture department at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The previous Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank headquarters was built in 1891 on 115 S. 4th St. It is now home to The Downtown Cabaret, a strip club. The walnut-paneled main banking hall of the building is now the lobby of the hotel. The taller wings of the building once held offices, but now house 214 hotel rooms. The hotel conversion preserved several historic features of the bank building. The main banking lobby with a 34-foot (10 m) high ceiling, marble staircase, and carved wood emblems have been retained. The bank's boardroom on the 10th floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows, is now a conference room. The original bank vault on the lower level is also a conference room, while the former safety deposit vault is now a wine vault and the entire bank has been made into a restaurant, called B.A.N.K. The restaurant kept as much of the original woodworking from the actual bank as possible. Former offices now serve as private dining rooms and the teller counter now serves as a bar.

Northstar Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Northstar Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Northstar Center is an office building and hotel complex in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota developed in the early 1960s. It opened in 1963 as the first mixed-use development in Minneapolis that offered office, retail, entertainment, and hotel functions. It consisted of three separate buildings: the Cargill Building, Northstar Inn, and the Pillsbury Company Building. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its significance in community planning and development.Northstar Center occupies most of the city block bounded by South Sixth Street, Second Avenue South, South Seventh Street, and Marquette Avenue. The exception is a low-rise building on the northwest corner built as a bank and opened in 1949. The oldest part of the complex is the Pillsbury Building, which is thirteen stories high, built of reinforced concrete, and clad in stone. The Pillsbury Building was substantially modified in the 1960s to include it in Northstar Center, receiving additions to the seventh through thirteenth floors above the parking ramp.: 17  The 1960s development included a hotel on the southeast corner, historically known as the Northstar Inn and now part of the Hotel Indigo chain; the Cargill Building on the southwest corner; and a parking ramp occupying the second through sixth floors. The first floor of the hotel includes retail space and the hotel lobby, while the first floor and part of the second floor of the Cargill Building house commercial retail spaces. Above the parking garage, the seventh floor (shared between the Cargill Building and the hotel) houses offices and banquet rooms, and then the Cargill Building houses corporate tenants on the eighth through 17th floors. : 15–16 The building is also notable for its skyways connecting it to neighboring buildings. The skyway crossing Seventh Street to Baker Center is the oldest surviving skyway in the system, while another skyway crossed Marquette Avenue to the Northwestern National Bank Building. That skyway was burned in the Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire in 1982, and when the new Norwest Center was built, the replacement skyway was connected to the former Midwest Federal Savings and Loan building instead of the Cargill Building. A later skyway connected Northstar Center to Capella Tower.: 16, 20 Walkin' Dog was located in Northstar Center.