Peavey Plaza
Name of Building/Site:
Peavey Plaza
Building/Site Address:
1100 S Marquette Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Current Threat and/or Recent Developments:
Rehab / redevelopment completed, Summer 2019
Designation:
U.S. National Register of Historic Places, listed on January 14, 2013
Dates:
1974-1975
Architectural and Other Designer(s):
Original landscape architect: M. Paul Friedberg / Nystrom Constructors
Rehab landscape architect: Coen+Partners
Description:
A Modern designed landscape by cutting-edge landscape architecture firm, M. Paul Friedberg and Associates, Peavey Plaza was constructed in 1975. The plaza is an example of a sunken park plaza that emerged during the late 1950s, continuing though the 1970s. This form departed from pervious landscape architecture design principles and represented a new urban park aesthetic. Peavey Plaza’s defining features include concrete hard space, a distinct variety of water features, and green plantings producing an amphitheater-like environment.
Docomomo US Advocacy Award of Excellence, 2014:
The Advocacy Award of Excellence is given to the coordinated efforts on behalf of Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Designed in 1975, Peavey Plaza is an extension of Minneapolis’s renowned Nicollet Mall. In 2011 the city looked to redesign the Plaza, paralleling the renovation of the adjacent Orchestra Hall. A consortium of local and national organizations came together to successfully communicate Peavey Plaza’s on-going importance and prevent its demolition. The Board of Directors of Docomomo US is impressed by the well-coordinated collective nature of these efforts; their outreach to a wide audience including local constituents and national interests; and their use of a combination of advocacy tools including the solicitation of pro bono design concepts by the plaza’s original landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg.
“Peavey Plaza is a prime example of one of our most threatened typologies: modern public landscape design,” states Docomomo US Director and Awards Committee Chair Jack Pyburn, FAIA. “There are numerous modern urban landscapes across the country that are in a state of neglect, disrepair and threat due to development pressures and lack of broader community understanding of their value and potential. The quality and significance of Peavey Plaza is extremely high and we anticipate this award will serve as a vehicle to support the funding of its rehabilitation and as an example to broaden awareness of and encourage greater support for the preservation of modernist landscape architecture.”
Awarded to the Restoration Team:
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM)
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF)
Docomomo US/MN
