"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
22 September 2023
Minneapolis
An awesome view of the downtown area, looking toward the northwest, with the Mississippi River on the right and the Guthrie Theater in the center of the image. Map. Found in the Stuff about Minneapolis tumblr; photo credit Will Wright.
That is an awesome picture. The park is Gold Medal Park, named for Gold Medal Flour, a General Mills Product. The mound, inspired by the Native American burial mounds that are found in Minnesota, is 32 feet high. The park website has some nice pictures of the park in various seasons:
http://www.goldmedalpark.org/
If you were on top of the mound at a little past 6 PM on August 1, 2007, you might have witnessed the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse less than a half-mile away to the east. 13 people lost their lives. There is a memorial across from Gold Medal Park.
The founding of the Guthrie Theater is interesting in historical context:
"The idea of a major resident theater was introduced to the American public in a small paragraph on the drama page of The New York Times on September 30, 1959, which invited cities to indicate interest in Tyrone Guthrie’s idea. Seven cities responded: Waltham, Mass., Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Minneapolis/St. Paul (which was not only interested but eager). Guthrie, Rea and Zeisler visited the seven cities, but were drawn to Minneapolis/St. Paul because of its location in the heartland of America, the vitality of the cultural community, the presence of a large state university and many small colleges, and the enthusiasm shown by the Upper Midwest for the new theater project.
In 1960, a steering committee that had been formed to bring the theater to the Twin Cities obtained from the T.B. Walker Foundation a commitment: to donate the land behind the Walker Art Center for a building and to contribute $400,000 for construction. The steering committee itself agreed to raise at least $900,000 from the community. Thus, the Guthrie Theater was born in Minneapolis/St. Paul, symbolizing for many the birth of the not-for-profit resident theater movement."
I remember visiting the Guthrie the year after it opened - not to attend a performance, but just to see the architecture and the view of the Mississippi from the upper level "tunnel".
That is an awesome picture. The park is Gold Medal Park, named for Gold Medal Flour, a General Mills Product. The mound, inspired by the Native American burial mounds that are found in Minnesota, is 32 feet high. The park website has some nice pictures of the park in various seasons:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goldmedalpark.org/
If you were on top of the mound at a little past 6 PM on August 1, 2007, you might have witnessed the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse less than a half-mile away to the east. 13 people lost their lives. There is a memorial across from Gold Medal Park.
I didn't mention in the post that the building displaying the Gold Medal Flour sign has a museum to the flour industry that is well worth a visit.
DeleteThe founding of the Guthrie Theater is interesting in historical context:
ReplyDelete"The idea of a major resident theater was introduced to the American public in a small paragraph on the drama page of The New York Times on September 30, 1959, which invited cities to indicate interest in Tyrone Guthrie’s idea. Seven cities responded: Waltham, Mass., Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Minneapolis/St. Paul (which was not only interested but eager). Guthrie, Rea and Zeisler visited the seven cities, but were drawn to Minneapolis/St. Paul because of its location in the heartland of America, the vitality of the cultural community, the presence of a large state university and many small colleges, and the enthusiasm shown by the Upper Midwest for the new theater project.
In 1960, a steering committee that had been formed to bring the theater to the Twin Cities obtained from the T.B. Walker Foundation a commitment: to donate the land behind the Walker Art Center for a building and to contribute $400,000 for construction. The steering committee itself agreed to raise at least $900,000 from the community. Thus, the Guthrie Theater was born in Minneapolis/St. Paul, symbolizing for many the birth of the not-for-profit resident theater movement."
From: https://www.guthrietheater.org/globalassets/8-footer/b-for-press/for-press/guthrie_history.pdf
(The current building, shown in the picture above, opened in 2006)
I remember visiting the Guthrie the year after it opened - not to attend a performance, but just to see the architecture and the view of the Mississippi from the upper level "tunnel".
DeleteA very short (17s) youtube vid from the Guthrie tunnel
Deletehttps://youtu.be/etf_hGl_IBA?si=AQOG94jJJpsi0lnO
Yes. Thanks for the memory revival.
DeleteCool photo!
ReplyDelete