Tour Day 2023: Modernism and Saint Paul's Urban Renewal – Saturday October 14, 2023. 1pm-3pm.

Ecolab Osborn building by Bergstedt, Wahlberg and Wold (1968).

​Join Docomomo US/MN in Downtown Saint Paul for a guided walking tour, as we explore modernist buildings that were developed as part of urban renewal efforts in the capital city.  Saturday, October 14, 2023; 1pm – 3pm.

Like many downtown cores in the 1960s, Saint Paul was yearning to counteract the flight of businesses leaving for the surrounding suburbs. Yet private investment was lackluster until the Metropolitan Improvement Committee commissioned the Capitol Centre plan, in which the city would purchase twelve blocks of blighted buildings and then resell them to private developers.

Supported by a $19 million federal grant, the fabric of downtown Saint Paul was remade between 1965 and 1974 with modernist office towers and plazas.

This walking tour will explore these and other highlights of modernism, including the 1966 gleaming aluminum and glass Ecolab building by Bergstedt, Wahlberg and Wold (1968), the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Building by Ellerbe Associates (1955), and the Northwestern National Bank Building by Grover Diamond Associates (1971). 

This tour is presented by Todd Grover FAIA. A longtime Saint Paul resident and Docomomo US/MN board member, Todd is a partner at MacDonald & Mack Architects in Minneapolis. He also serves as the national VP of Advocacy for Docomomo US.


​Banner Image: Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Building by Ellerbe Associates (1955).
Photo: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

​About Docomomo US Tour Day:
The only national program of its kind, Tour Day is devoted to the appreciation of modern architecture in the United States. Tours and events focused on architecture and design of the Modern Movement are hosted, coast-to-coast, by Docomomo US chapters, partners, and leading voices in preservation. 

This year's thematic focus is Revisiting Urban Renewal. Urban and suburban development led to radical changes in the way we live, work, and gather. Docomomo US explores the multifaceted theme of urban renewal as the 2023 annual theme seeking to revisit and better understand the complexity of the projects that were built, their significance, positive and negative impacts, and their legacy today.