The $24 million project was funded with support from public and private sources, including more than $16 million from Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s RiverFirst Capital Campaign.
Minnesota is home to a 72-mile-long national park, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, that runs through the urban cores of both Minneapolis and St. Paul. As part of a plan to enhance the experience of the iconic St. Anthony Falls area for tourists and residents alike, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), with restaurant partner The Sioux Chef, entered a public/private partnership to develop the land. Now dubbed Water Works, a three-acre site within Mill Ruins Park, the project features greenspace with native foliage and a two-story pavilion that includes outdoor plazas, visitor amenities, and a new restaurant.
The area holds historical significance on several levels. To help shape their vision of the future while understanding the design reverence needed for the project, the MPRB selected Damon Farber Landscape Architects to lead the project with the national interdisciplinary design firm HGA.
Formerly a vacant, distressed industrial parcel in downtown Minneapolis, the Water Works Park Pavilion and park project is one of the initial projects of the RiverFirst Initiative, started in 2010 by MPRB in partnership with the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, a vision for transforming an 11-mile stretch of land nestled along both sides of the Mississippi Riverfront.
“HGA and their Minneapolis office team have extensive experience working with the natural and built environment and a clear understanding of the area’s historical context,” commented Kate Lamers, design project manager from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. “Additionally, HGA is well-versed in creating educational and public spaces that balance historic renovation with public needs, and has proven experience in restaurant design.”
Urban Design, Historical Meaning
Led by project designer Michael Hara and project architect Robert Good, HGA began planning for the Water Works Park Pavilion in 2016. Due to the site’s historic impact, the project, designs, and plans fell under the purview of Minnesota’s Historic Preservation Office.
“Water Works includes a multitude of flour, lumber and feed mill remnants dating back to the 1800s, while the location for the pavilion itself sits on the foundations of several ruins dating back to the 1870s,” said Hara, HGA senior associate. “With the existing ruins’ strong architectural language and the long history of mill ruins being incorporated into the next evolution of mill architecture of the era, we wanted to respect the historical fabric and incorporate the site’s materials and language of masonry into contemporary designs to create a seamless transition from past to present.”
The pavilion proved extremely complex; in addition to design and construction, it required selective building deconstruction, archaeology, historic preservation, and historic documentation. Much of that work required careful coordination with archaeological and historic preservation specialists to uncover, document, and evaluate the 100+ year old structures.
“We were fortunate to partner with archaeological and historic preservation specialists at 106 Group and MacDonald & Mack Architects who were able to uncover, evaluate and document ruins that had been underground for nearly a century,” said Hara. “With these discoveries, we continually evolved the project based on changes in site conditions, the foundation, and existing architecture.”
In addition to historical requirements, the Water Works Park Pavilion is situated above the popular West River Parkway, so considerations were made for modern foot, bike, and car traffic.
Pavilion with a Past and Present
HGA’s approach to the design of the 9,000 square-foot pavilion eloquently intertwines the past with the present. On the exterior, rather than introduce a foreign material to the project, the use of brick as the building’s primary cladding recalls the long history of masonry architecture while evoking a decidedly contemporary feel. The first level’s arched glass entryway features original mill walls; the left is from the Bassett Mill, an old lumber and sawmill, and the right-hand side highlights a wall from the Columbia Flour Mill. A 200 by 50 square-foot outdoor stone patio is lined with vertical railroad ties and echoes the original river and rail transportation while providing comfortable seating for park-goers, diners, and tourists alike.
The wood beam ceilings highlighted throughout the pavilion’s interiors are both functional and performative, but the design decision was made as an homage to timber structures on the interior of old mill buildings. The lower-level Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Atrium houses an MPRB-operated Visitor Center Welcome Desk that is staffed year-round, as well as an information center with amenities for park visitors. The Lenzmeier Family Foundation Classroom, which can be rented for meetings or events, has a large four-panel window that brings in abundant natural light, views of the Mississippi, and the arched Hennepin Avenue bridge.
The building features six restrooms over two floors, including gender-neutral and accessible facilities, and an adult-sized changing table to support use by seniors and people with disabilities. Other amenities for park-goers include a water fountain and water bottle filler, a quiet room for nursing or prayer needs, and a wudu foot-washing station.
Facing the river, the 120 by 40 square-foot, upper-level terrace offers an 80-seat patio and extensive grassy lawn with high-top tables (for use by restaurant patrons and other visitors) that look out on the river’s only natural waterfall and the Bank of America City Steps. A single-story wall supports the terrace (part of the original Columbia Flour Mill from 1882), while white pines and cedars were planted on the city side to serve as a natural screen. A cottonwood tree, thought to be more than 100 years old, was preserved during construction and provides partial shade for the terrace and General Mills Plaza. The park, designed by Damon Faber Landscape Architects, reflects a welcoming and comfortable area that will serve the diverse Minneapolis community today and into the future as a place to pause, gather, learn, and reinforce the connection between Minneapolis and the Mississippi River.
Owamni by The Sioux Chef
The pavilion’s upper level was designed exclusively for Owamni by The Sioux Chef, a full-service restaurant founded by James Beard Award-winning chef Sean Sherman and co-owner Dana Thompson. Owamni is a modern, Indigenous restaurant revitalizing Native American cuisine and focuses on purchasing ingredients from Indigenous producers first.
HGA teamed with Sherman and Thompson to craft a venue honoring the sacred Dakota site while also recognizing Minneapolis’ first Japanese restaurant — and the only other restaurant ever located on the central riverfront — Fuji Ya. Diners can reach Owamni from the public elevator or a stately and sophisticated wooden and metal stairway HGA designed using reclaimed Douglas Fir beams salvaged from Fuji Ya for the stair treads.
Owamni is 6,000 square feet, seats 65, and features a full bar, dining area, and an outdoor patio on the second level. Its second-story placement grants sweeping, 180-degree views of St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis’ iconic Stone Arch Bridge and the Mississippi River.
The interior design is a continuation of the exterior in materiality and character. The same brick used outside, is used inside to create a seamless transition and to frame beautiful views of the river. Existing interior stone and brick of the original mills, including brick barrel vaults, were exposed and highlighted in an effort to tell the history of the structures. Furniture, selected to blend in with the building and not be a focal point; is simple and neutral in its design and lies quietly in the background. Warm lighting envelops visitors throughout the building, as they transcend the blackened steel and salvaged timber stairs and as they enjoy spending time at Owamni which, at the perimeter of the building, emits a beautiful glow in the evenings due to a custom designed ceiling lighting solution that is both subtle and delightful.
Owamni provides a new forum for The Sioux Chef to promote Indigenous education and Indigenous food access. The restaurant introduces new patrons to decolonized cuisine in a space designed to host a unique dining experience.
Owamni opened July 19, 2021. It was named on The New York Times The Restaurant List 2021. Reservations are suggested.
Sustainability
New to Minneapolis is the park and pavilion’s extensive water reclamation system. HGA and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization ensured that the renovation and design included a large-scale water reclamation system, which harvests rainwater from the rooftops of adjacent condominiums and office buildings to use in park irrigation and greywater functions within the park’s building.
By reusing the existing mill foundations and footings, the project’s total carbon footprint is virtually eliminated. The project also adheres to Minnesota’s stringent B3 standards that include energy efficiency, emissions and air quality, bird detectable glass, landscape treatment, and material sourcing.
HGA is proud to have worked on this historic project with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, The Sioux Chef, Damon Farber Landscape Architects, H+U Construction, Barr Engineering, MacDonald & Mack Architects, Kimley Horn, and 106 Group.
