Minnesota Architecture: Hibbing High School

Posted at 1:43 PM on July 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Architecture, Arts around the state, We Art Minnesota

When people look back at their high school years, not many are thinking about the architecture. But not so for Lynn Falk who, like Robert Zimmerman before her, attended Hibbing High School.

Hibbing High School
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Lynn Falk provides us with today's Minnesota Architecture nomination; here's why she choose her alma mater:

Beyond the beauty of the auditorium and the library, the main entrance has a marble staircase and pillars and additional murals painted on the walls. Being in the high school band, we traveled around the state performing at different schools, and even as a teen, I was able to see how fortunate I was to be able to go to school in a museum. The sad part for me was when they tore down the football field to construct the band and fitness facility. The auditorium has doors on the south side that opened up into the bleachers. All I can say about the auditorium is wow. It is worth the trip to Hibbing to see the beauty of the high school.

Hibbing High School Auditorium
Image courtesy Iron Range Tourism Bureau

Here's more on the building from the Iron Range Tourism Bureau:

A grand staircase leads to the medieval castle-like framework of the historic school, built in the early 1920's for almost $4 million.

Unique hand-molded ceilings in the foyer welcome visitors and accent the breathtaking auditorium designed after the Capitol Theatre in New York City. Cut-glass chandeliers of crystal, imported from Belgium, light the 1800-velvet seat grand auditorium. The cost of each chandelier in 1920 was $15,000 and today they are insured for $250,000 each. The auditorium boasts a magnificent Barton pipe organ, one of only two that still exist in the United States. Containing over 1900 pipes, the organ can play any orchestra instrument except the violin.

Postcard depicting aerial view of Hibbing High School, circa 1940
Image courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society

Hibbing High School was promised to be a "Castle in the Woods" to promote the relocation of the town from North Hibbing. It was funded in large part by mining companies; it was the growth of the mining industry that forced the town to move in the first place.

Interested in nominating a building for the Minnesota Architecture series? Just send a photo with a few lines explaining why you like it to mcombs@mpr.org.

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Bringing the Hennepin Avenue cultural corridor to life

Posted at 3:05 PM on July 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Architecture, Funding

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded $200k to Hennepin Theatre Trust to revitalize vacant private and public spaces along Minneapolis' main thoroughfare, Hennepin Avenue.

The grant is part of the NEA's Our Town project, which is geared toward creative placemaking. The City of Minneapolis has approved a $50,000 Great Streets grant as part of the local match.

According to a news release Hennepin Theatre Trust, along with the Walker Art Center, the Cowles Dance Center and Artspace, will use the grant to "begin the planning process to re-invent Hennepin Avenue as an arts-inspired cultural corridor stretching from the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden to the Mississippi Riverfront."

Hennepin Theatre Trust runs the Orpheum, State and Pantages theaters, all located on Hennepin Avenue. In addition to the Walker Art Center and the Cowles Dance Center, other cultural stops along the the avenue include Burnet Gallery and the Minneapolis Central Library (designed by Cesar Pelli).