| Canadian Pacific Plaza | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Location | 120 South Sixth Street Minneapolis,Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°58′38″N93°16′7″W / 44.97722°N 93.26861°W /44.97722; -93.26861 |
| Completed | 1960 |
| Height | 383 ft (117 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 28 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Holabird, Root & Burgee with Thorshov & Cerny |
Canadian Pacific Plaza is a 383-ft (117 m) tallskyscraper inMinneapolis,Minnesota. It was completed in 1960 and has 28 floors. It is the 21st-tallest building in the city. It is the first majorpost-World War II skyscraper built in Minneapolis. It is also the city's tallest building completed in the 1960s. Askyway connects the building to theRand Tower,Soo Line Building, andUS Bank Plaza.
The building's history began in 1955 whenFirst Bank System of Minneapolis hiredHolabird, Root & Burgee ofChicago to design a new headquarters.[1] The project, assisted by Minneapolis firm Thorshov & Cerny, drew inspiration from the design principles ofLudwig Mies van der Rohe and the recently completedLever House inNew York City. Construction commenced with demolition of the New York Life Insurance Building in 1957, followed by a January groundbreaking in 1958, and final occupancy in May of 1960.
The building was known for its first 20 years as First National Bank Building. It served as the headquarters for First Bank System (nowU.S. Bancorp) and its subsidiary First National Bank of Minneapolis (now U.S. Bank). In 1980, after the bank developed Pillsbury Center, whose shorter tower was styled First Bank Place East, the First National Bank Building was renamed First Bank Place West. First Bank System and First Bank, N.A. moved to theCapella Tower in 1992.[2] The building subsequently took on the name One Financial Plaza.[3]In August 2012, the building gained its current moniker whenCanadian Pacific Railway moved its United States headquarters and 400 employees out of the nearbySoo Line Building, which was undergoing conversion into a residential building.[4] The Soo Line Building is the namesake of the historicSoo Line Railroad, of which the Canadian Pacific become majority shareholder in 1890 and took full control in 1990, moving its own US headquarters into the former Soo Line offices.[5]
First Bank Place officially opens with a grand celebration tonight. The 53-story skyscraper complex on 3rd Av. between 6th and 7th Sts., designed by architect James Freed of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners of New York, has been part of the downtown Minneapolis skyline for two years but the interior was just finished this month. The taller of its towers, on 6th St., has been occupied by First Bank System.