St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-12-23

| lars may nave passed. through
the clearing house, the receipts and
shipments may have increased so large
| ly as to indicate a surprising. but GER
tain growth of mercantile interests,
and the flour output may have been
much larger, but these are but transi-
| tory evidences of the citv'S increasing
| greatness, simply the indications that
| show the rate of speed that has been at
tanned. and the ground passed over.
| But the buildings the public edifices,
! the business blocks, the residences
these remain as lasting benefits, pres
aging and providing for what IS to
come, by marking as monuments
the record of the past, which
! is the guarantee OF the future.
| There is more food for pride, and sim
| cere cOngratulation to be obtained from
this source this year than ever in the
city'S history, remarkable as it is, and
the cause is not alone contained i'll the
fact that simply the amount expended
in building has been larger than ever
before.
Minneapolis is young city, so vo ung
that the first child born within its
limits, is still young man. Its growth,
almost tremendous, has been scattered.
The sudden rising in real estate values,
although warranted by promises of an
early realization of even the most SAN
guine predictions, the attraction of the
thousands with small means, WHO came
to the West to build the homes they
could not hope to acquire in the East
these and other agencies have placed
wide stretches of prairie land between
dwellings on the outskirts, given I'M
evenneSS TO the business streets, and
made the surroundings of costly piles
OF brick and stone detract from their
beauty.
THE BUILDING HAS BEEN HERETOFORE
as if from the suburbs towards the bust
ness center. The outlying districts
have become peopled, while there yet
remained plenty OF vacant lois upon
prominent thoroughfares. The strain
to keep pace with the urgent needs of
city which covers so vast an
area, and which seemed to be act
ually growing away from itself, has
been found too heavy, but now at last
this mushroom tendency has been
checked, and the year 1888 has done
more than any of its predecessors to-
wards Soidfying. symmetrZing and
developing the natural advantages which
Minneapolis possesses for great city,
with broad, even streets that come
together in almost a common center like
the spOkeS of great wheel.
Last year the aggregate values of |
buildings, as specified in the permits |
issued for their erection, amounted to |
$6,4S7,319. 1t has been found from ex- |
perience that the actual cost of a build |
ing is likely to exceed the estimate for |
the construction by at least one-third, |
SO it is conservative TO say that the
amount expended on buildings in 1887 !;
was over Sl0,900,0O0. This year, max |
ing an estimate for the latter part of |
December, the total of the permits is |
sued is about $500. approximatmg in |
the aggregate SSJ00.000. This gives the |
basis for the estimate that the amount |
expended in the construction of build |
ings in Minneapolis this year by the |
first of January will reach at least S12,- |
000.O0O, and will PROBABLY exceed that |
amount. Sc the enthusiastic boomer |
cannot be considered reckless if he puts |
the figure at Sl5,00O.000.
WONDERFUL, ISN'T IT?
But the most gratifying feature is not |
in the greatness of the amount, but in \
the character of the building that has |
been done, and the knowledge that piles |
of granite and brown stone, rows of |
brick, graceful spires have arisen
which would be ornaments to any
city in the world. The year
has seen the new government building
approach its near completion; and it
is soon to become a cause of pride in
stead of uncomplimentary comment oc-
caSioned by the hardness of its con- |
struction, as its architectural beauty |
has become so apparent as to silence
complaint from this source. The Ro- /
manesque library building challenges
admiration, and the gray walls
of the Masonic temple have
reached an altitude that indicates
its coming Stateliness. Science hall, at |
the state university, Normanna hail.
Labor temple, the new school buildings,
the churches, the Calvary Baptist,
Holy Rosary. the First Presbyterian, the
First Congregational, the resurrected
public buildings that creditably repre-
sent both beauty and permanence in
modern architectural designs.
THE BUSINESS BUILDINGS
of substantial and ornate character
are still more numerous. Within the
past eleven months ten buildings have
been erected, the cost of each exceed
ing 100000. five over $4,000, twenty
over $4,000, and ffty-nlne over
$4,000. Some of these are of a
character that testifies most abund-
antly to the fact that is
of the increasing greatness
of Minneapolis. The GLOBE takes
pleasure in having contributed itself
to the number of business blocks that |
are worthy of special mention even in
brief and cursory review OF this nature,
and the handsome eight-story struct-
ure Of Dureith red stone which
stands on Fourth street can be
cited. as an architectural beauty that
will stand as a prominent building in |
the history of Minneapolis in any gen
Grafton. The solid, seven-story. stone
building erected by the Bank of Com
merce, and the handsome combination