1887, 1910
The building at 244-246 First Avenue has a long history, with the two addresses having a single building permit, and sometimes having single or separate tenants or owners. Over the years, the structure has housed companies, factories, and businesses.
In April 1887, C.H. Prior obtained a building permit for a two-story brick and timber building to house retail stores. At a cost of $5,000, F.A. Fisher Company built the 14,551 square foot structure with twelve-inch walls, a gravel roof, and a stone foundation.
The local newspapers from 1892 to 1893 advertised Ivey Bakery as a tenant.
By 1899, Marshfield Novelty Company owned the building. The new owner installed factory equipment. Marshfield owned several buildings in the immediate area from which it manufactured and sold slot machines. Minneapolis newspapers carried want ads seeking agents to sell “legitimate” and “lawful” slot machines. Marshfield’s slot machines were often in the news as police raided illegal gambling establishments. The Minnesota Journal reported on May 4, 1901, that Marshfield-manufactured slot machines were part of a police raid, as they were illegally located in local saloons. Marshfield’s slot machines are currently in the International Arcade Museum.
The Maire Paint Company was also housed in the building in the 1890s, selling paint and building supplies.
The original building was replaced in 1910. The Minneapolis Journal reported on January 14, 1904, that Parke Davis of Detroit, a manufacturer of chemist’s products, was seeking a location in Minneapolis for a northwestern distributing branch. The Journal later reported that the two-story, heavy mill and brick building was to be designed by Lowell A. Lamoreaux and constructed by Edmund G Watson. The building would cost $8,000, have an ornamental front, and would be located at the rear of the Windsor Hotel. The building was to be owned and occupied by Parke Davis which ultimately became the world’s largest and oldest drug manufacturers in the country.
The building permits reveal that Lowell A. Lamoreaux, a partner in the architectural firm of Long, Lamoreaux, and Long, applied for approval to install a concrete foundation under the, then called, “old brick warehouse.” Parke Davis and Company, the owner, occupied the structure until the late 1930s.
Records suggest that a confectionery occupied the building in the early part of the century.
American Wicker Works, a sixty-year-old company, was a tenant in the 246 building from 1942 to 1946. The Minneapolis Times reported on October 31, 1945, that the company later purchased land to expand its business in south Minneapolis.
By 1946, the 246 address was owned by Zelle Manufacturing Company. Zelle sought to make improvements to the store front and the interior. Zelle Company was a long-term fixture in the building, advertising in the local newspapers and selling mittens and gloves until the late 1950s. By then, Zelle had five addresses with the original 246 address listed as the factory and as the number one store with an additional outlet on Nicollet Avenue. Zelle placed numerous want-ads in the Minneapolis newspapers from 1948 to 1966 seeking, “Girls for Factory Work.”
The Minneapolis Star, on April 21, 1961, reported that Samuel J. Zelle, the owner of the company, was forming a new company, United Elector Plastic, to manufacture soft plastics for mittens and gloves to be called, Zell-A-Hide. In 1969, Zelle Manufacturing went out of business and sold the building’s contents. Samuel Zelle died in 1970 at age 67.
In 1968, advertisements were placed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune offering both two-story addresses for sale.
In the 1980s, 244-246 First Avenue was rehabilitated and repurposed for commercial use. Brickwork was repointed, utilities modernized, and interiors were refinished. The exposed brick walls, tall windows, and heavy timber beams were ideal for creative offices. In 1989, the building was included in the Minneapolis Warehouse District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
246 First Avenue North was subsequently purchased by A.G. Johnson in 1988. That same year, new windows were installed, and the second floor was remodeled by Patrick Construction Company.
Other tenants during this time included Iconoculture, a consumer research company, and Rozeboom Miller Architects.
Myoung Duk Kovack, the 246’s occupant in 1991, sought a building permit to make interior alterations for the creation of Utopia Health Club.
1998, unfortunately, brought negative news to the 246 building. The Star Tribune reported on March 9, 1998, that there had been more than fifty arrests at various businesses in the area. The City of Minneapolis “identified a high level of illegal activity (prostitution) at Utopia.” Owner Myong Duk Kovach became the first owner in the area to agree to an abatement plan for similar buildings in the neighborhood. The business closed.
In 1999, Yamamoto Moss, a graphic design firm focusing on brand identity, removed forty-one dumpsters worth of materials from the former Utopia space (including the 1950s façade and bulletproof Plexiglass) in their plan to turn the building into new office space. The award-winning firm helped put Minneapolis on the national map of design and graphic design expertise. Yamamoto Moss subsequently consolidated its offices outside the Warehouse District.