Block E (Minneapolis)

Block E is a block in downtown Minneapolis bounded by Hennepin Avenue, 6th Street, 7th Street, and 1st Avenue North. It is part of the Downtown West neighborhood in Minneapolis. It is one block south of the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue light rail station on the METRO Blue and Green lines.

The block has had a long history of different uses, from movie theaters and bars to retail and restaurants. Currently it is home to basketball practice facilities and front offices of both the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA and Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Mayo Clinic Square is connected to Target Center via the Minneapolis Skyway System. The building also contains a Mayo Clinic sports medicine facility, which is open to the public. The street-level redevelopment has been spearheaded with the new restaurant City Works.

1850–1950 

In its early days, Block E contained mansions and row houses. The mansions on Hennepin between 6th and 7th were gone at least by 1908 when the block acquired its row of small commercial buildings that remained largely unchanged into the 1980s.

In the mid to late 19th century, the commercial and political hub of Minneapolis was Bridge Square, at the convergence of Hennepin and Nicollet Avenues. Most of the early commercial activity in Minneapolis took place there.

However, Bridge Square lost its status as the hub of Minneapolis by the turn of the 19th century. Retail stores clustered on Nicollet Avenue for many blocks south of Washington Ave. The Shubert Theater (later the Alvin — and the Academy after that) was built in 1910 on 7th Street. The six-story Jeweler's Exchange Building went up next to the Shubert at the intersection of 1st Avenue North and 7th Street in 1913.

The block was crowded by buildings constructed at the beginning of the 1900s; arcade galleries, pool halls, ice cream stores, credit agencies, a grocer (Great Northern Market), bars, restaurants and theaters were among the many tenants. A notable venue, the 620 Club, operated at 620 Hennepin from the 1930s until 1971. Renowned for its roasted turkey, the 620 Club billed itself as "Where Turkey Is King" and was owned by Ernie Fleigel and Max Winter. Fleigel and Winter were friendly with a number of pro athletes who would visit the restaurant and cocktail lounge throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s; during this period Winter brought major league basketball and football to the city as founder of the Minneapolis Lakers in 1947 and the Minnesota Vikings in 1960.

1950–1988

After 1950, as the rest of downtown gentrified, especially as the part of the Gateway District east of Hennepin was demolished and replaced with modern structures and parking lots, lower Hennepin Avenue became known as a place for drunks, crime, and prostitution. While Block E was not the center of the squalor it was only a few blocks away and over time it became the poster child area for downtown's uglier side. The 620 Club in 1971 gave way to Moby Dick's, which became known as one of the city's most seedy bars. Unsavory establishments, including rough bars, flophouses, and adult movie theaters settled in on Block E in the 1970s and 1980s. The opposite side of Hennepin deteriorated during this period as well, with the Aster and Gopher Theaters — screens that for decades had booked mainstream fare (the Gopher had the downtown showing of "Jaws" in 1975) — switching to adult films. In the 1970s, Block E's Hennepin face was anchored at each end by a Shinder's news vendor; Shinder's began at the 6th Street corner in 1916 and later split into two companies, framing the block as bookends might at opposite corners.

By the 1980s, the block was one of the choice places in Minneapolis for punks to hang out and it became a creative breeding ground for the local punk music scene, in part due to the presence of a record store beginning in the mid-1970s (Wax Museum, then Hot Licks, then Northern Lights). Block E was also known for its cheap rent, drawing such establishments as Rifle Sport Gallery. From the mid-1980s forward, the Minneapolis police had a constant presence in the area; it was normal to see squad cars or a police van parked between the northbound traffic lanes and contraflow bus lane.

Other establishments on Block E during the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s included (but not limited to) the Rand Hotel, Brady's Pub, Musicland, the Venice Cafe, La Casa Coronado restaurant, the Bottle Shop liquor store, Great Northern Market, Luigi's restaurant, National Beauty Supply, Best Steak House, Hollywood Beauty School, Sun's, Phase I, Dun-Rite Cleaners, Lee's Restaurant, Northside Bakery, Egekvist Bakery, Josid Hardware, Asuka restaurant, Gary's Coney Island, The Academy Theater (previously the Shubert and the Alvin), the World Theater, The Jewelry Exchange Building, and a McDonald's "Town House" restaurant franchised by McTeufel Inc.

A three-second shot of the Shubert/Alvin/Academy and World Theaters can be seen in 1984's Purple Rain. The Shubert is the only surviving structure from Block E, having been moved in 1999 to a new location a block north on Hennepin Avenue. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest structure ever moved on rubber-wheeled dollies.

By 1987, the city council voted to demolish the entire Hennepin side of the block, giving tenants a limited amount of time to relocate.  Moby Dick's and Rifle Sport Gallery did not survive the move, although the owner of Moby's briefly ran a bar called Melville's on Washington Avenue. The 7th Street Shinder's moved to a former Burger King at 8th and Hennepin, and the 6th Street Shinder's moved to the 900 block of Nicollet Mall. (By 2007, both locations had closed.)

The city hosted an official celebration of the demise of Block E, during which council members symbolically smashed up the adult stores, exploded "balloons arranged to look like sticks of dynamite", and Council Member Van White led the singing of a song to the tune of "Bye Bye Blackbird":

 "Pack up all your crime and porn,
 Block or scorn, be reborn,
 Bye bye Block E"

 "Moby Dick's is beached at last,
 Problems vast, now are past,
 Bye bye Block E"

 "No one here can stop and aggravate us,
 No more hard-luck stories will deflate us,
 Say goodbye to urban blight,
 Now we'll light up the night,
 Bye bye Block E."

Citizens who had enjoyed Block E also had a celebration. Called "The True Tribute and Farewell to Block E", the celebration was held at First Avenue and showcased photographs, films, and salvaged signage of the block.

1988–2001
For over a decade, the Hennepin side of the block was a surface-level parking lot. In the mid-1990s, the Jewelers Exchange Building on 1st Avenue was also torn down. The only structures remaining on the block were the Shubert Theater and a two-story billboard advertisement. The Shubert was moved next to the Hennepin Center for the Arts by the Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center in February 1999.

2001–2014

In 2001, the entire block became occupied by an enclosed shopping and entertainment mall of the same name, Block E, which was developed by McCaffery Interests, a Chicago-based real estate developer. The mall housed establishments such as Shout House Dueling Piano Bar, Applebee's restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe, and an AMC movie theater. The five-star, 22-story Graves 601 luxury hotel was built on a majority of the block's frontage on First Avenue. Other chains included Jimmy John's, Starbucks, Applebee's, Hooters, Cold Stone Creamery, and GameStop.

The new Block E was accessible from street level, and loosely modeled itself after buildings which previously existed on the site (specifically on Hennepin). The development also served as an important link in Minneapolis's skyway system, connecting Target Center to City Center.

Supporters of the project expected that the new Block E would bring back retail that has historically left Hennepin Avenue for other enclosed malls clustered on the Nicollet Mall as well as in suburban malls. In re-establishing the "character" of Hennepin as a Theater District, the new block E also attempted to promote itself as "Block Entertainment".

Snyder's Drugs, one of the original tenants, closed its location just barely a year after the complex opened. Borders, another original tenant, closed its Block E location on February 2, 2008. The club Escape Ultra Lounge closed in July 2007. The upscale restaurant and night club Bellanote closed in July 2009.

According to a February 12, 2010, article in the Twin Cities Business Journal, The Block E Hooters restaurant in downtown Minneapolis owed more than $350,000 in rent, utilities, taxes and penalties. On August 24, 2010, the restaurant officially closed.

On March 16, 2010, Kieran's Irish Pub, originally established in 1994, took over the space previously occupied by Bellanotte. Owner Kieran Folliard signed a 10-year lease with the building that offers two 5-year extension options.

Between 2010 and 2012, various establishments in the mall closed. On March 30, 2010, GameWorks closed its doors. On March 13 the following year, the Applebee's restaurant closed its doors. On September 7, 2011, it was announced that the Block E Hard Rock Cafe would close on September 30. The next year, the AMC Block E Theater 15 closed its doors.

A state run casino was proposed for Block E, as a potential funding source for U.S. Bank Stadium. Prior to the latest redevelopment effort, the unused sections of the location were supported by an artistic initiative titled Made Here by the Hennepin Theatre Trust.

2014–present
On February 4, 2014 the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx announced a partnership with the Mayo Clinic to rename the building Mayo Clinic Square and turn it into a practice facility, medical clinic and office complex. The renovations were reported to cost over $50 million.

On June 17, 2015, a grand opening event was held after months of renovations. The facility is home to the offices of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx basketball teams' offices and practice facilities, as well as the Mayo Sports Medicine Clinic. The basketball practice facilities have been described as "the gold standard" and "the most advanced in the NBA".

On March 9, 2016, a new 10,000 square foot restaurant and pour house City Works was opened to the public, hoping to encourage further redevelopment and enterprise in the block. It has also been announced that Jack Links has signed a lease for office space and storefront in Mayo Clinic Square.

References

External links
 1908 photo of Hennepin side of Block E at MN Historical Society
 Emporis.com site for the Graves
 Q: When is a Mall Not a Mall, A: When It's Block E
 Looking down First Avenue North towards sixth street

Category:Shopping malls in Minnesota
Category:Buildings and structures in Minneapolis
Category:History of Minneapolis
Category:Sports in Minneapolis
Category:Minnesota Timberwolves