Most twin city residents of a certain age are familiar with the old Minneapolis Auditorium, which is located where the convention center is today. But this building built in the 1920s is actually the second auditorium in the city.

The first was a building constructed in 1905 through the most unusual public/private partnership. It is located on 11th Street, near Nicollet Avenue S., now home to the Orchestra Concert Hall. Although it survived until 1973, the original form of the first auditorium was short and it was called the Lyceum Theater for many years.

In the early 1900s, the civic leaders of Minneapolis began to find a way to build a public auditorium, mainly for concerts and theater performances. But it wasn't until the end of 1903 that a businessman named Fred G. Smith came up with a seemingly weird idea that proved difficult to obtain funding for the project. His proposal was to reach an agreement with an insurance company, promising to sell a new policy worth US$2 million in exchange for the company to build an auditorium at a cost of US$150,000 or more.

As strange as it sounds, the plan worked, and Northwestern National Life Insurance Company (now a subsidiary of ReliaStar and Voya Financial Inc.) agreed to the arrangement. I don't know how many individual life insurance policies were sold to reach the magic mark (a relatively small number of wealthy customers may have purchased most of them), but by the end of 1904, the transaction was completed and the auditorium began to work.

The auditorium building designed by Minneapolis architectural firm Bertram & Chamberlin provides an impressive facade on 11th Street, with six huge Doric columns, made of cream-colored terracotta, and the background is simple Of bricks. These pillars frame five entrance doors and a row of windows above. The two arched openings on both sides of the colonnade are equipped with exit doors at the bottom of the wide staircase, designed to allow the audience to quickly leave from the balcony of the auditorium and the gallery.

When the auditorium was officially opened in February 1905, newspaper reports covered these exits and other security features—and for good reason. Just over a year ago, on December 30, 1903, the deadliest building fire in American history occurred in the newly built Iroquois Theater in Chicago, killing at least 602 people. The exit of the theater was seriously inadequate and turned into a death trap. The victim was either suffocated by smoke or trampled to death by the fleeing crowd.

Due to a tight budget, the interior of the new auditorium is rather rudimentary. A newspaper described its walls as "barren" and the only decorative effect was the coffered ceiling. Despite this, the auditorium is quite large and can accommodate up to 2,500 people for the event.

Its main advantage is a 84-foot-wide and 50-foot-deep stage, spacious enough to accommodate various touring performances and large-scale operas (Verdi’s "Aida" was the first to be staged). The auditorium is also equipped with a 4,000-tube Kimball organ, which is said to be the fourth largest of its kind in the United States.

Although the sloping main floor seats can be removed (through two huge trapdoors leading to the basement) to create a flat floor suitable for dance parties, receptions, trade shows, etc., the auditorium lacks a real stage. This flaw explains why a new and larger municipal auditorium was built on Grant Street a few blocks away 22 years later.

"Minneapolis Daily" introduced the opening of the new auditorium in five pages, praised it as a "exquisitely conceived and well-executed building", and assured readers of its "fireproof structure" and numerous "safety devices." . But the author admits that the auditorium is far from lavishly decorated, and points out that “people on the first night might think that the interior is empty.” In fact, in a renovation in 1924, the auditorium had nothing but whitewashed walls.

The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra) performed in the auditorium from 1905 to 1930. The newspaper claimed that the sound effect was excellent.

In addition to holding concerts, the auditorium also attracted many touring stage performances. Over the years, a large number of stars-Sarah Bernhardt, Burt Lahr, George M. Cohan, Rosalind Russell and many others-have performed on stage.

Initially, the auditorium was operated under the guidance of a manager hired by Northwestern National, who moved into a new four-story building next door to Nicollet in 1905.

However, the auditorium is unlikely to be a profitable person, and by 1924, it needs to be restarted. The Magney and Tusler company (which is about to design the Foshay Tower) was asked to renovate and upgrade the auditorium, which then reopened as the Lyceum Theater.

After the theater has been transformed, a new ballroom has been added under the main balcony, and there is even a tea room for dancers. Movies are also shown, but live stage performances are still the main content of the theater.

However, by 1958, the owners of Lyceum stated that they could no longer profit from legal theatrical works, so they sold the building to the Calvary Evangelistic Association, which turned it into a soul harbor, where the Almighty provided it The drama.

As the plans for the Orchestra Concert Hall and Pivi Plaza moved forward, it ended in 1973. The local newspaper legend Barbara Flanagan wrote a special column about theater history, and "Minneapolis Star" published a nostalgic one Say goodbye to editorials.

Then the vandals moved in, and the toast hall that was once the city disappeared.

Larry Millett is an architectural critic and writer. He can be reached at atlarrymillett.com.

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