Page 5 - St. Paul, MN Central Station Design Guidelines
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1 Introduction
Central Station lies at the heart of downtown Saint a potential historic district, focused on the Urban
Paul and functions both as a gateway to downtown Renewal era during the mid-20th century. Ultimately,
and a destination in and of itself. The block’s current the construction of the new LRT station led to the
state traces development through early shipping and demolition of the Midwest Federal Building at 360
trading to mid-20th century commercial downtown Cedar Street, determined to be an adverse effect
use. With the recent construction of the Light Rail based on the Section 106 review. To mitigate this
Transit (LRT) station, the block is a prime location for adverse effect, the Programmatic Agreement for the
redevelopment. Central Corridor LRT Project stipulated that a set of
design guidelines be prepared for redevelopment
This block and its context are especially unique of the block to ensure that new development is
because of their rich history and array of historically- compatible with the surrounding historic resources.
significant resources. While many people recognize
these resources, spanning from the late 1800s to This appendix document presents design guidelines
the mid-1900s, they were not formally recognized that consider the National Register of Historic Places
until the planning of the LRT station. A survey of (NRHP) Minnesota Building, NRHP-eligible buildings
historic resources (Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance including the Saint Paul Athletic Club and the First
Company Building, 345 Cedar Street, Saint Paul National Bank Building, and the potential NRHP
and the Saint Paul Urban Renewal Historic District: Saint Paul Urban Renewal Historic District buildings.
National Register Evaluation) occurred as part of the Compatibility with these two “layers” of history
required review under Section 106 of the National should be key considerations in designing new
Historic Preservation Act for the Central Corridor improvements in the area. These design guidelines
LRT project. The survey identified several individual are also consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s
properties of historic significance that date from the Standards for Rehabilitation.
early decades of the 20th century. It also identified
Figure 1.1 The Central Station block site today, looking from the corner of 4th and Minnesota, ca. 2016
central station block design guidelines | June 2017 | 1
