Building of Interest

Like most folks, I generally don't go around looking specifically for architecture and building styles when I'm out and about. Nonetheless there are still some things that will catch my eye. For me any building with a decent amount of color or shape will capture my interest.

One building that recently caught my eye was the office building located at 1185 North Concord in South Saint Paul, MN.  It's nothing spectacular, but the way it's built into an area surrounded by a steep hill or bluff, and a not so spacious gap between the road and this bluff, makes it sort of interesting. The colored tiles on each end however really make it stand out.

1185 as viewed from across Concord Street looking south

Currently the building appears to be partly empty. I'm guessing at one point however it may have been a thriving office building. Also of particular interest with this building was the custom bus shelter across the street for northbound riders.

The bus shelter across the street is painted to mimic the color tiles on the ends of the building.

Bus shelters that are specifically built for a business or company tend to be rare in the Twin Cities outside of downtown Minneapolis. This particular shelter structure appears to have been around a while, and was likely added back in MTC days. It is still served by Metro Transit route 71, although I doubt this stop generates as much ridership as it might have previously.

 What the future holds for this building is unknown. However it is an interesting sight. 

A quick look around Winona, MN

Winona, MN is situated on the Minnesota border along the Mississippi River. Population is 27,572 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Winona has an interesting position geographically, with the Mississippi on one side, Lake Winona on another, and some inlets and wetland filling the ends.

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 Winona has a very nice looking downtown district, with some shops and quiet streets that give it a small town feel. 
 


On the outskirts of Winona, there are the usual small city retail outlets including Hy-Vee, ShopKo, Kmart (pictured below), Mills Fleet Farm, and a shopping center. A Walmart Supercenter is located to the southeast.



Winona is home to Winona State University, and does have a bit of college town vibe with lots of students walking around, a fair amount of rental housing, and a lot of cars. One thing that was interesting however, was how calm traffic was around the campus and the city in general. When people were waiting to cross a street, drivers actually stopped to let them cross, instead of speeding up as they do in some places.


Winona also has a transit system, called Winona Transit Service, which operates four bus routes. While the system isn't very large, and only operates small buses, it covers the majority of the Winona area.

A Look at the Cedarvale Mall site in Eagan, MN

The Cedarvale Mall at one point was a downtown of sorts for the city of Eagan, MN. However the opening of the Mall of America, just up Highway 77 in Bloomington, and additional shopping oriented development in other parts of Eagan proved to be too much competition. The Cedarvale Mall closed around 2007, and was torn down in 2008.

The site of the former mall sits adjacent to Highway 13, and close to Highway 77.

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The site is currently vacant, and features numerous NO TRESPASSING signs posted by the city. Barriers are situated at all entrances to keep cars and trucks from entering. Piles of dirt and rubble, decaying asphalt parking lots, and weeds also adorn the site.


Some type of future development has been planned for the site since the mall building was torn down. In anticipation of this some roadwork is being completed on Cedarvale Blvd.

The latest plans for the site are to build an upscale outlet shopping center.  Paragon Outlet Partners LLC. plans to build a 400,000 square foot center, complete with 90-100 retail spaces.