Landmark Center & Rice Park, Art & Travel, St. Paul, MN USA

Rice Park

This park was the base point of our latest Travel Date. A picturesque public park in downtown St. Paul, I was enthralled with its fountain and the lovely bronze statue covered with flowers – as noted in its inclusion in all my photos!

I have fond memories of visiting Rice Park during the winter months to view the ice sculptures during the St. Paul Winter Carnival and watching the skaters on its ice-rink.

Peanuts in the Park

Fun, playful sculptures of Peanuts cartoon characters are placed around Rice Park and neighboring Landmark Plaza. They make great photo ops! Their creator, Charles Schultz, is a native Minnesotan.

Herbie’s in the Park

Our culinary stop was at “Herbie’s in the Park,” a neighborhood tavern named after another native Minnesotan, Herb Brooks. He is the legendary “Miracle on Ice” hockey coach who led the US hockey team to an Olympic Gold over Russia in 1980.

The tavern has a colorful history as the prestigious Minnesota Club, a men’s private social club (1869). Legend has it that it was connected by underground tunnels to the brothel next door run by St. Paul’s most infamous madam, Nina Clifford.

Landmark Center: Building & Architecture

Pink granite ashlar stone. Hipped red tile roof steeply pitched to shed St. Paul’s winter snows. Turrets. Gables. Dormers and cylindrical corner towers. Two massive towers, one housing a clock. Add it all up and it a truly magical building!

Built in 1894-1902, it was designed by American architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke whose career had been boosted by his time as Supervising Architect of the U.S.Treasure Department.

The architectural style was Richardsonian Romanesque, similar to the Old Post Office Building in Washington D.C. (Simple definition of this style is a modernized version of 11th & 12th century French, Spanish and Italian Romanesque characteristics and named after Richardson, an architect.)

Travel Tip: For more information on this topic, I recommend checking out the Landmark Center Architectural Tour, available by request.

For much of its life it was not fully appreciated nor was it so glamorous. . .

During the first half of the 20th century, the majestic atrium/Cortile (pronounced kor-teel) was occupied by the Post Office. They constructed a louver-paneled ceiling at the second-floor level to secure the area (see photos). Of special interest is that it was complete with cat-walks so the vigilant postal supervisors could observe their workers below!

Time and official government tenants were not kind to the building. The descriptions of their alterations made me weep: “The marble walls of the main entrance lobby were painted with #102A government green. They cut down marble wainscoting to install mailboxes. Brown linoleum covered the maple floors. Crude tile replaced marble mosaic. Fluorescent egg-crate ceiling fixtures replaced the handsome old metal lights that had been wired for both gas and electricity. Corrugated asbestos covered the Cortile skylight. The beautiful stained glass skylight in Courtroom 430 was roofed over on the outside and painted over on the inside.” How sad.

In 1967, the post office was moved to a new location; the old building was scheduled for demolition (see photo), reportedly to become a parking lot.

The public was outraged and a campaign was mounted to save the building. After several years – and miles of red tape – the Old Federal Courts Building was saved. Reconstruction began. It was so successful it received several awards including a top national award from the American Institution of Architects (1980) for its adaptive reuse.

(landmarkcenter.org/history/)

The Landmark Center: The History

“Uncle Sam Worked Here”

This exhibit was the first one we came upon in our self-guided tour – and it is a great place to start your tour. It provides perspective on the Big Picture for the balance of this great exhibit which spills out into the rest of the building.

It highlights the building’s chronological timeline with photos and artifacts from history. A handy Exhibit Guide (see Visitor Desk) is a must to figure it all out. It tells the story of the people and their building, from its construction to its role today – and everybody in between!

Gangster Trials Held Here

One of the most intriguing stories told within its walls involves the Prohibition Era infamous gangster trials during its life as the Federal Courts Building. Some of the FBI’s most notorious criminals were tried in this building, including Ma Barker’s son “Doc,” Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and John Dillinger’s gal Evelyn Frechette. FBI G-Men, armed with Thompson sub-machine guns, kept guard in the upper balconies to ward off any courtroom escape attempts or ambushes. (landmarkcenter.org/history/)

Travel Tip: For more information on this colorful piece of history, I suggest taking one of the Landmark Center’s Gangster Tours, available by request.