Public invited to meeting on the development of new design guidelines for the St. Anthony Falls Historic District

The City of Minneapolis announces an upcoming community meeting to discuss the history of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District and introduce the process to develop the new historic district design guidelines. The community meeting will be held:

Wednesday, April 6, 2011
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Mill City Museum, 6th Floor ADM Conference Room
704 South Second Street, Minneapolis

Historic district design guidelines are a local policy and regulatory tool used in decision-making to evaluate alterations and new development within the historic district. The new design guidelines will include guidance on the following:

* Archaeological sites and sites of specific cultural/historical significance

* Existing and new infrastructure; sites of specific engineering and transportation significance

* Natural features and open space

* Existing buildings and the construction of new buildings; sites of specific architectural significance

The Need

The current Design Guidelines for the district were adopted by the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission in 1980. In the three decades since the existing design guidelines were adopted, the district has seen dramatic change. Access to and interaction with the falls and the river has evolved, infrastructure has been added, project plans have been developed and realized, and the understanding and knowledge of the historic resources in the district have increased. The field of preservation has also evolved from a disciplinary perspective. It is no longer sufficient to simply save and re-use a specific collection of historic buildings or properties. In order to create and sustain economically successful places, it has become critical to evaluate and carefully consider how entire environments function as a diverse, but unified cultural landscape.

The existing design guidelines for the historic district provide a set of architectural standards for new building construction based on a series of discreet sub-districts. The existing document was not crafted in a time when it was considered necessary to address some of the basic and key features of the district: the falls, the river, industrial infrastructure, archaeology and landscape features.

The update to the design guidelines will take a holistic approach toward the many features that make up the essential character of the district – one that balances preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation with the opportunity that comes from integrating new infrastructure, new uses, higher densities, new buildings, and new landscapes. New design guidelines need to address the entire cultural landscape of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District to steward the entire collection of resources into the Twenty-first Century.