Donaldson's Fire, Minneapolis, MN, Thanksgiving 1982
Sorry Curt's Cannonball, you've been bumped...
Post #50 appropriately fell around Thanksgiving, and I'd long been planning this post for Thanksgiving.
Or a few days later because that's how things go...
On November 25, 1982, a massive fire broke out in the old Donaldson's Department Store in downtown Minneapolis. Above is local Minneapolis TV station (ABC affiliate, channel 5) KSTP's 5pm news coverage from the next day.
Here's how (CBS affiliate, channel 4) WCCO covered the fire at 5pm on November 26th.
On Christmas Eve, 1982, my mother, sister and I, went downtown to see the damage....
(The next three photos were all taken on the same street corner, 6th & Nicollet)
And it was impressive...
This is what the former Donaldson's building looked like in 1950. Showing the store's new (and unbelievably awful) look, after a post war remodel covered up the classic glass and brick.
The original Donaldson's structure was built in 1884. It was named Donaldson's Glass Block and included a dome on the roof at the corner of 7th and Nicollet. The dome was removed and scrapped for metal during World War 2.
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My mom has always loved going to downtown Minneapolis and shopping at the large Dayton's, Donaldson's, Powers, JC Penney's, Woolworth's and other shops, several times a year.
There was always a trip downtown on Christmas Eve, with both my sister and I, which became a family tradition. In 1982, it took on extra importance...
Before each day's shopping, she would have lunch at the Nankin Chinese Restaurant on 20 S 7th Street. The Nankin opened in 1919, at 15 S 7th Street and operated there until 1958. The postcard above is from 1960, and promotes the new location.
In 1980, the Nankin was forced to close up here, as their building was set to be demolished. The entire block was being cleared to make room for the construction of "City Center." A downtown shopping mall and hotel combination that would include a new home for Donaldson's, opening in 1981.
The Nankin moved into a much larger two-story space at the corner of the 7th and Hennepin side of City Center, in 1981. There was a brief lawsuit involved over the restaurant and developers, but was resolved in time for a re-opening at City Center. I looked for the term: "eminent domain" in regards to this case online, but did not come up with a match.
Nor did I find our what the 1979 term for "eminent domain" was...
A long glass hallway to the Nankin entrance fronted Hennepin Avenue. This gave an excellent peek at Minneapolis' notorious Block E, in all it's 1982 glory! Just above my sister's head is Shinder Bros. store. They still used the Brother's moniker back then. I remember always bugging my mom to let me go across Hennepin to look at all the Shinders cool stuff and the multiple "video arcades!"
She wouldn't let me..
Because Block E was so terrifyingly different from the suburbs from where we came...
I was a bit naive until a couple years later...
And yes, that is a 7 year old me rolling my eyes in front of a Christmas themed Rickshaw...
Which really doesn't make sense, but whatever, it was 1982...
The Nankin closed for good in 1999.
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WCCO ran more fire coverage on the November 26th edition of the 6pm news.
Thank you, TC Media Now!
And who told Dave Nimmer that mustache was a good idea?
Here's a photo of the Donaldson's building I found online from 1949 (?).
It shows the building from 7th & Nicollet, looking to the northeast. You can clearly see the contrast between the renovated portions and original brick and glass areas.
Taken from the same location, but not the same angle...
It was a typically cold December day in Minneapolis, and ice was still covering much of the Donaldson's building. As well as coating the streets and sidewalks, as you can see in the picture.
Looking east down 6th Avenue, with the Northwestern National Bank looming over. The 16 story bank was built in 1930. A closed off skyway used to connect Donaldson's and the IDS Center, located one block south.
Looking north up Nicollet Avenue, the JC Penney building sits at the corner of 6th & Nicollet. The Penney's building sustained some broken windows from the fire, but suffered no damage.
This section of the Donaldson's building was taller than the half to the north, by an additional few stories. The IDS "tallest building in Minneapolis" Center, lurks ominously over it's well-done older brother...
Fire was reported at the vacant Donaldson's just after 5pm on Thanksgiving day. By that time it was already burning out of control throughout the structure, and had spread into the bank.
I'm sure the temporary lights that you can see are on in the upper levels, are for workers inside. But the burned out concrete structure makes it look demonic...
And awesome...
The Northwestern National Bank building had an open atrium in the upper floors, which acted like a chimney in fueling the fire. The upper floors 6-16, were completely gutted by the fire. While remaining structurally intact, there was nothing left after the intense flames swept through.
Fighting the fire lasted throughout the night and well into the next day. No deaths were reported, but 10 firefighters were treated at hospitals for injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to a heart attack.
The renovated part of Donaldson's on the northwest corner was six stories tall, and had been mostly demolished when the fire broke out. You can still see the smoke damaged painted Donaldson's sign, up near the roof. That's pretty cool!
Within days of the fire, the Minneapolis Fire Department determined the cause as arson. Weeks later, two boys, aged 12 and 13, were arrested and convicted of setting the fire. They confessed to have crawled through a hole in the snow fence, then climbed demolition debris up to the second floor, where they got inside the partially demolished Donaldson's.
In their statement, they admitted to playing with some of the demolition equipment inside Donaldson's, then igniting an acetylene torch that was being used by construction workers. The torch ignited some debris, which started the fire. The kids escaped the building unharmed.
The fire caused an estimated $90 million in property damage, when all was said and done. Still the most expensive fire in Minneapolis history.
People were still gawking at the incredible damage a month later. Us included...
Donaldson's was linked to JC Penney on the north, and the IDS Center to the south, via skyways. Smoke traveled through the skyways into both buildings. Some windows burst due to the heat, but damage was contained to just the one block. This burned out skyway once connected JC Penney, which had reopened by the time we were down here.
The fire burned with such intense heat, it burned through protective fire doors placed between Donaldson's and Northwestern National Bank in both the basement and on the fifth floor. Estimates put the fire burning around 1600 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Looking into the Donaldson's rubble from under the JC Penney skyway, on the north side of the block. (along 6th Street). Northwestern National Bank is on the left.
My mom didn't take any pictures of Northwestern National Bank, other than this one. Very few windows remain intact above the 6th floor.
Bank vaults and safe deposit boxes were located in the basement and were undamaged by the fire. Most official business was done in a computer center a few blocks away. Other than closing this location, bank business was back to normal in a short amount of time.
(Photo taken at 5th & Nicollet)
Yeah, but the weatherball was never restored, and unfortunately in 2000, it was scrapped.
Dicks...
If you don't know what the weatherball is, enjoy this cute little cartoon explaining it!
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Due to severe structural damage, the former bank was imploded on March 11, 1984.
In 1988, Northwestern National Bank (now/then known as Norwest Bank) built a 57 story tower on the site. After more monopolizing bank mergers, the structure is known today as the Wells Fargo Center.
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The Donaldson's half of the block is now occupied by Gaviidae Commons, a downtown shopping mall that opened in 1989. Saks 5th Avenue and Nieman Marcus previously kept stores in the complex, but it's currently anchored by Walgreens and a YMCA.
Just before Christmas 1990, I made my only visit to Gaviidae Commons. Buying Camper Van Beethoven's Key Lime Pie on cassette, at some music store that likely went out business at least 25 years ago now.
Key Lime Pie remains one of my favorite albums still today.
In the late 1990's, this cassette had already ridden in the back seat of my car for years. During that time, the sun faded the J card and melted the plastic case. Not the original case, as that had broke years earlier...
Almost as if it had been through a fire.
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Special thanks to TC Media Now, who are putting hundreds of hours of digitized video of Twin Cities media content produced in the 1970's and 1980's. The videos are going online, as they aired, with commercials included!
And that roooooools!
The seeds for Four Baggers were planted on this day.
Happy belated Thanksgiving!
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