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otterno11's review
4.0
A concise but informative work, Heart of Saint Paul is packed full of interesting factoids and lush period and contemporary photos of the Pioneer and Endicott buildings, one of the historic landmarks that have been revitalized in recent years in downtown Saint Paul. Now housing the newly renovated Minnesota Museum of American Art and a brewery, we may perhaps being seeing life in the “other” downtown after so many jokes of being “dead” after 4:30. After living in the building for a few months last year, I appreciated the detailed research and background info provided by Millett on my historic home. Taking the glass fronted elevators up through the atrium as I arrived home each day, for instance, it was interesting to learn how rare this once common feature of 19th century office buildings is to have survived.
From the architectural history and designs of both the Pioneer Building (built in 1889 to house the Pioneer Press newspaper and the tallest building west of Chicago for a few years), and the connected Endicott Building (designed as an indoor shopping arcade by a young Cass Gilbert), to some of the tenants who also called it home, like Northwest Airlines and Ecolab, there was a lot of fun info here. The most interesting to me were the personal perspectives of the elevator operators, office workers, and shop owners who worked there during its century long history (especially the story of the young women who hid from the rather disturbing actions of rampaging Vulcans during a 1940s era Winter Carnival). While perhaps most interesting to tenants (current or former) of the Pioneer Endicott, Heart of Saint Paul definitely has something to offer anyone interested in the architectural history of the Twin Cities.
From the architectural history and designs of both the Pioneer Building (built in 1889 to house the Pioneer Press newspaper and the tallest building west of Chicago for a few years), and the connected Endicott Building (designed as an indoor shopping arcade by a young Cass Gilbert), to some of the tenants who also called it home, like Northwest Airlines and Ecolab, there was a lot of fun info here. The most interesting to me were the personal perspectives of the elevator operators, office workers, and shop owners who worked there during its century long history (especially the story of the young women who hid from the rather disturbing actions of rampaging Vulcans during a 1940s era Winter Carnival). While perhaps most interesting to tenants (current or former) of the Pioneer Endicott, Heart of Saint Paul definitely has something to offer anyone interested in the architectural history of the Twin Cities.
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