A few years back, I had a contracting job in downtown Minneapolis – which was, as it happens, a long-time wanna-have of mine.  I’ve always loved the hustle and thrum of downtown Minneapolis, and after my harrowing year of gross underemployment in 2003, it felt good to not only get back into working, but get back into it in a place that throbbed with energy.

And one of my favorite places in the city, especially for lunch-hour decompression while working a fairly tense set of projects, was Peavey Plaza – a sunken water-garden down in the teens on Nicollet Mall.  The Plaza features concerts and street fairs for most of the summer and, almost better, is a relatively placid oasis in the middle of Minneapolis’ throbbing financial district the rest of the time (frequent approaches by bums and panhandlers notwithstanding).

Rumors for years have held that the Plaza was in danger – so, on the one hand, it’s good to hear that people are taking note…:

The sunken-plaza park, on the Nicollet Mall between 11th and 12th streets, was named one of the “Ten Most Endangered Historic Places” by the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota earlier this year.

…and, on the other hand, disconcerting to hear the kind of note being taken:

Now, it’s been included on the list of 12 modern landscapes — “Marvels of Modernism” — that are in danger of being lost, as selected by the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Ugh.

Oh, well.   “Modernist” label aside – I favor excising much “modernism” from our cities, and especially indiscriminate carpet-bombing of all Bauhaus architecture – I’m rooting for the Plaza.  Every little bit helps.