Yesterday (27. February, 2003) I took a walk downtown to take some pictures of the Minneapolis Public Library as they were tearing it down. One of my earliest memories of this building was a field trip sometime during grade school down to the planetarium Sometime between 1970 and 1973, I think.
I don't have a lot of memories of the old building, since I never really went to the central library that much (when I was a little kid, we lived in the suburbs), but walking around and seeing it go, I still felt a feeling of loss. Maybe it's because I've walked by the library pretty regularly during the past twenty years.
There were a lot of days when I'd end up waiting at the bus stop in front of the library after a lunch downtown. If you looked past the building, you could see the clock-tower of City Hall and know how much longer there was to wait for the bus. I think that's the reason I like this particular composition. It's almost the same view, except from across the street.
But after circling the library, I think this particular corner was the most compelling, as it was where the crews were actively tearing into the building. There was something going on, and the shape of the building would change as you watched. Also, since this was where the crew was working, there was a guy with a firehose spraying water on the demolition. Lots of fun elements to work with in trying to get a picture I liked. And I did. Heck, I got a half-dozen that I thought were worth posting here, so that's something.
The play of the water (to settle the dust, I assume) on the twisted girders, and the contrasting colors of concrete (wet and dry) made this another picture I like. In all, I think it was a pretty good way to spend some time on a nice afternoon when I didn't feel like working.
Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek.
Last updated on Wed, 31 Dec 2003 12:47:13.
