The
History of
Hennepin SquareEarly
Days
The land that Hennepin Square is built on was first platted by the
Minneapolis Industrial Association in 1916. The land was used for spur
railroad tracks until it was purchased by Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills in
1921. At the time, Fulton was one of the largest corporations in the
United States. The four story factory and office building was completed
in 1923 at an estimated cost of $230,000 (that would be about
$2.5million in today's dollars). The original building's main
entrance faced Hennepin Avenue and there was a tower above it. The
mill
produced
paper containers and household goods. The Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills
Company was plagued by periods of labor disputes. Most notably was the
1914-1915 strike which focused on laborer's growing interest in
unionization. Changes in packaging after the Second World War lead to
changes in Fulton Bag that eventually led to the break up and sale of
the company.
General Mills & Litton
Systems
In 1948 General Mills leased the fourth floor of the building to
accommodate personnel and for aeronautical research. This research
included high altitude balloons under the name Project Skyhook
which included the first successful three-balloon cluster which was
launched from what is now the parking lot of Hennepin Square. In 1951
General Mills purchased the entire building from Fulton Bag and Cotton
Mills who continued to lease space in the building through 1952.
General
Mills' Mechanical Division invented the Ryan Flight Recorder, also known
as the "black Box" and worked on construction remote control mechanisms
for atomic energy installations. In 1957 General Mills established a
digital computer laboratory at Hennepin Square. The building housed the
Engineering Research and Development Department and was know as Plant V.
Here is where Bud Froehlich put his talents to work and came up with the
design for the Sea Pup - the forerunner of the Alvin submarine. Alvin
was the first manned deep submersible and General Mills won the contract
bid from the Navy in 1962. During the 2 year build of Alvin, the General
Mills Aerospace Engineering and Research Department was purchased by
Litton Systems who also purchased the building in 1963. Since the sale
transferred all facilities, personnel and capabilities involved in the
Alvin project, it was seamlessly completed by Litton in 1964.
Hillcrest Development
In the 1960s, the neighborhood around Hennepin Square was all industrial
with no office buildings. When Gary Tankenoff of Hillcrest toured the
building, top secret cold war era work was being done there and security
was tight. Hillcrest development purchased the building from Litton
Systems in 1966 with the idea of making it over as a professional office
space. At the time, most people thought they were crazy - none of the
space had been pre-leased and the project represented a serious risk.
Hillcrest planned to eventually add four stories
to the building (for a total of eight) so the structure was
beefed up to support eight floors and the underground parking garage was
added. Hillcrest purchased the Minneapolis Casket Company building on
the far side of the lot with the thought that they would need the space
for additional parking. This building was rehabilitated and sold to the
YMCA at a later date. The renovation of Hennepin Square began by
relocating the main entrance so that it faced the parking lot (as
opposed to facing Hennepin Avenue). A new brick overlay exterior was
installed along with windows, central air conditioning and an Otis
elevator. The floor indicator in the elevator car still reflects the
original plan for eight stories. By 1970 the renovation was completed.
With construction was complete, a model office was
installed on the first floor. Several restaurants were in Hennepin
Square and Hillcrest decided to build a commercial kitchen at their own
expense to attract those businesses. The first tenant in that new
kitchen was John Rimarck who started the Monte Carlo Restaurant among
others. Advertising the building as a "turnkey facility with free
parking for all and underground parking for only $25 per month" it took
Hillcrest about 2 years to completely fill the building. One of the
first notable tenants was Lawson Company that became the huge Lawson
Software.
MSP Park Place
Hillcrest Development sold the building to MSP Park Place in June of
1998, they are the current owners. MSP has continued to improve the
facility and Hennepin Square continues into the future as the
neighborhood's premier professional office space.
We hope that you will consider Hennepin Square
for your office needs.
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