The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates was designed in the 19th century, served as a library and cultural center throughout the 20th century, and is now revitalized to inspire all who visit to join the global fight against hunger. To honor our buildings rich history, we will post a historical feature every other week until the end of the year! The original entrance of the building was on its east side facing the river, on what was to be the main avenue. The east entrance eventually succumbed to numerous floods and other physical deterioration, and was completely torn down circa 1956. The World Food Prize rebuilt the historic east staircase and returned the building to its original orientation facing the river. This is intended to allow the building to serve as a centerpiece of the Principal Riverwalk development, as the main promenade and bike and jogging track runs directly in front of the building. An interesting challenge to rebuilding the grand staircase was finding stone to match the facade of the building. Since the original stone quarry has long since been closed, and the green goals of LEED Certification dictated stone could not be imported from great distances, the restoration architects needed to get creative. A number of projects in Minnesota made from the same stone, such as abandoned railroad bridges, were found and harvested. The east staircase was then recreated with materials from this original, local Midwestern source.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000
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