Butler Square
Encyclopedia
Butler Square is a former warehouse
building in Minneapolis, Minnesota
. The building is located within the Minneapolis warehouse district
and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1971 as having one of the foremost architectural designs in Minneapolis. The architect, Harry Wild Jones
, designed other buildings in Minneapolis such as the Scottish Rite Temple, Calvary Baptist Church, the Lakewood Cemetery
Chapel, and the Washburn Park Water Tower
.
It was originally built as a warehouse for Butler Brothers
, a mail-order firm. It had rather heavy construction in keeping with its function as a warehouse, featuring thick interior masonry
walls with thin, recessed windows topped by corbel
led parapet
s. The interior is built with heavy timber posts and beams, cut from Douglas fir grown near Aitkin, Minnesota
. The columns are 24 inches wide at the bottom level, gradually diminishing to 9 inches wide on the top level. The basement included a horse
stable
, to accommodate deliveries, and the building had three large coal-fired boiler
s for heating. Mechanical elevator
s were used to move goods throughout the building. The building had a rail spur to facilitate boxcar loading. Gradually, as truck transportation became more competitive with rail transportation, the urban location of the building rendered it inefficient as a warehouse.
In 1972, real estate developer Charles Coyer purchased the building with plans to rebuild the east half of the building as an office-retail complex. As part of the renovation, a central atrium was built to allow natural light into the building. This made the retail and office space more marketable, since the large floor space and small windows made it difficult to get enough natural light into the interior. James H. Binger
purchased the building in 1979 with similar plans to develop the west half of the building. The atrium on that side was built with more of the heavy timber construction exposed, and more efficient mechanical systems were installed. The renovation of the building has served as a catalyst for additional development and preservation within the Minneapolis Warehouse District.
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
building in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. The building is located within the Minneapolis warehouse district
North Loop, Minneapolis
The North Loop is a neighborhood of the Central community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The neighborhood is commonly known as the Warehouse District from the city's shipping hub years. It includes the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1971 as having one of the foremost architectural designs in Minneapolis. The architect, Harry Wild Jones
Harry Wild Jones
Harry Wild Jones was a popular Minneapolis, Minnesota-based architect who designed throughout the country and the world. Born two years before the start of the American Civil War, Jones, a twelfth generation New Englander, took his place on the American architectural stage in the late 19th century...
, designed other buildings in Minneapolis such as the Scottish Rite Temple, Calvary Baptist Church, the Lakewood Cemetery
Lakewood Cemetery
Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown area...
Chapel, and the Washburn Park Water Tower
Washburn Park Water Tower
The Washburn Park Water Tower poses as a landmark of early 20th-Century architectural achievement within the Tangletown neighborhood in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been doing so for nearly 75 years...
.
It was originally built as a warehouse for Butler Brothers
Butler Brothers
Butler Brothers was a retailer and wholesale supplier based in Chicago. It was founded in 1877 as a mail-order company by George H. Butler and Edward Burgess Butler.-History:...
, a mail-order firm. It had rather heavy construction in keeping with its function as a warehouse, featuring thick interior masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
walls with thin, recessed windows topped by corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s. The interior is built with heavy timber posts and beams, cut from Douglas fir grown near Aitkin, Minnesota
Aitkin, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,984 people, 892 households, and 434 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,150.3 people per square mile . There were 969 housing units at an average density of 561.8 per square mile...
. The columns are 24 inches wide at the bottom level, gradually diminishing to 9 inches wide on the top level. The basement included a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
, to accommodate deliveries, and the building had three large coal-fired boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s for heating. Mechanical elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s were used to move goods throughout the building. The building had a rail spur to facilitate boxcar loading. Gradually, as truck transportation became more competitive with rail transportation, the urban location of the building rendered it inefficient as a warehouse.
In 1972, real estate developer Charles Coyer purchased the building with plans to rebuild the east half of the building as an office-retail complex. As part of the renovation, a central atrium was built to allow natural light into the building. This made the retail and office space more marketable, since the large floor space and small windows made it difficult to get enough natural light into the interior. James H. Binger
James H. Binger
James Henry Binger was a lawyer who became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell. He was also a well known philanthropist, horse enthusiast and New York and Minneapolis theatre owner and entrepreneur.-Career:...
purchased the building in 1979 with similar plans to develop the west half of the building. The atrium on that side was built with more of the heavy timber construction exposed, and more efficient mechanical systems were installed. The renovation of the building has served as a catalyst for additional development and preservation within the Minneapolis Warehouse District.