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46-576: The park is located to the west of Loring Park and the Basilica of Saint Mary . The land was first purchased by the park board around the start of the 20th century, when it was known as "The Parade" because it had been used for military drills. It became known as the Armory Gardens after park superintendent Theodore Wirth created a formal design that included a U.S. National Guard armory (Kenwood Armory) for Spanish War volunteers. Working as

92-481: A 1,000-seat theater on the first floor that hosted performers such as W.C. Fields and Sarah Bernhardt . At various times known as the Loring Opera House, Loring Theatre, Fox Riverside, and Golden State Theatre, the theater was destroyed by fire in 1990. The office building was leased to the city for use as its first City Hall, library, jail and municipal courts. Formerly Central Park, Loring Park in

138-588: A Saint . Loring Park Loring Park is a park in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis , Minnesota . Loring Park was established in 1883 after the passage of the Park Act, which first created the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board . The park was first named Central Park. In 1890 the park was renamed again in honor of Charles Morgridge Loring , who was the first president of

184-629: A civic and cultural center, in 1913 a floral convention transformed the land into floral gardens, which it remained for the next 50 years. In 1934, six years after the Walker Art Gallery opened across the street, the Armory was demolished for its instability, and a new Armory built in downtown Minneapolis, turning the Armory Gardens over to the Minneapolis Park Board. Since 1908 the area of today's Sculpture Garden and land to

230-410: A full schedule in 2022, Holidazzle was put on hold for 2023 due to a lack of funding. The park contains a small lake (Loring Lake, formerly known as Johnson's Lake) and paths for walking and biking. Originally named Central Park, it was renamed in honor of Charles M. Loring , known as the "Father of Minneapolis Parks." The park is the site of various cultural, social and political events. It features

276-828: A life as a sea captain. But Loring disliked the ocean and the isolation and moved to Chicago in 1856 where he worked as a wheat speculator for B. P. Hutchinson and became a successful grain trader. Loring never enjoyed perfect health, and when he fell ill in Chicago and moved on doctor's advice to Minneapolis, his friend Loren Fletcher helped him become manager of the supply store for Dorilus Morrison 's lumber business. Loring and Emily S. Crosman married in 1855. They had one daughter, Eva Maria, and one son, Albert C. Loring who managed businesses for his father. Emily Loring died on March 13, 1894. Loring remarried on November 28, 1895, to Florence Barton, daughter of A. B. Barton of Minneapolis. Florence Loring participated in civic affairs and

322-457: A performance stage, fireworks, locally produced holiday gifts, a large beer tent, visits with Santa and many events for children. In addition, a skating rink and large warming house tent is set up which continues through early March as part of the event. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Holidazzle did not take place in 2020. After returning to Loring Park in 2021 in a hybrid, more limited format and

368-526: A playground, biking and walking paths, public art, and a fishing pier. It displays two well-known pieces of public art : The 1971 "Berger Fountain" (also known as "Dandelion Fountain"), an authorized copy of the renowned El Alamein Fountain in Sydney (built by the original artist Robert Woodward and shipped to Minnesota), was gifted by Parks Commissioner Ben Berger in 1973 and installed in 1974–1975; and

414-533: A property in which he held financial interest was under park board consideration. Horace Cleveland made his "crowning achievement" in Minneapolis at the end of his career, in part thanks to "kindred spirits." William Watts Folwell who was the founding president of the University of Minnesota , and Berry and Loring, both from Maine, were all united in their love for nature. The system Cleveland created

460-474: A statue of Norwegian composer Ole Bull . The Berger fountain is not currently operational (as of 2023), but a community group is working with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to restore the fountain with an estimated construction date of 2025. The Loring Greenway is a 1,500-foot linear park that connects Nicollet Mall in downtown directly to Loring Park. It opened in 1979, and though it

506-562: Is characterized by the use of indigenous plants in their natural environment and by the linking of open spaces and landmarks across distance with boulevards and parkways . Cleveland had thought about linked public open spaces as early as 1855. During Loring's tenure, Cleveland designed the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway and the Chain of Lakes . In his history of the Minneapolis park system, Loring describes how green space

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552-577: Is hosted by the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board. Beginning in 2016 the Minneapolis Downtown Council moved the annual Holidazzle winter event, which had previously been held downtown on Nicollet Mall, to the park due to the two year construction project along Nicollet Mall. The huge winter event attracts thousands of people and runs weekends from Thanksgiving through Christmas and focuses on local food vendors,

598-527: Is public space owned by the city, much of the award-winning landscaping has been maintained by volunteers with the Loring Greenway Association in the decades since. By 2016, nearly 1,600 people were using the greenway daily for walking or biking, or for its playgrounds and other amenities. Loring Park is mentioned extensively by Craig Finn by the name "Penetration Park" in songs by his bands Lifter Puller and Hold Steady . Portions of

644-760: The Central community is 35 acres (14 ha) designed by Cleveland on the site of the Joseph Johnson farm. It was dedicated May 5, 1883 and renamed for Loring in or near his final year as park board president. Loring Lake, formerly Johnson Lake, was also named for Loring as is the Loring Stage House, originally Loring's office. In California, Loring Drive in Huntington Park and Loring's building in Riverside bore his name. In Minneapolis,

690-554: The 1870s. At the same time, business people wanted to harness its power. In 1884 Loring advocated a Minnesota state park at Minnehaha Falls, a goal the state tried and failed to achieve. In 1888, Cleveland presented The Aesthetic Development of the United Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts and convinced the city to preserve the waterfall and to build a city park there. In

736-530: The 1890s, Cleveland's Minnehaha Park was annexed to Minneapolis and completed the Grand Rounds. Today Minnehaha Park sees 850,000 visitors each year. Named by Folwell, the 52-mile (83 km) Grand Rounds circles from Northeast, Minneapolis to Theodore Wirth Park , to the Chain of Lakes and follows the Mississippi River upstream past Minnehaha Falls to downtown . At the 1889 meeting of

782-529: The American Park and Outdoor Art Association, held in Minneapolis, Loring read Cleveland's The Influence of Parks on the Character of Children . In 1905 Loring learned of Theodore Wirth and recruited him as park superintendent. Wirth met with Minneapolis neighborhoods to extend Cleveland's work from landmark geographical features to every street. He wrapped "sixty miles of picturesque parkways around

828-612: The City like an emerald ribbon." Wirth planned a playground within the reach of most children and canopies of trees throughout the city. Each home is within six blocks of a park and as of the U.S. Census in 2000, there are 770 square feet (72 m ) of parkland for each resident. Minneapolis park assets as of 2004 included the following. 144 of the parks were in place when Wirth retired in 1935. In 1889 in his winter home in Riverside, California , Loring constructed an office block with

874-593: The Galaxy mill from W. P. Ankeny. In 1873 Fletcher and Loring also became principal owners of the Minnetonka Mills Company near Lake Minnetonka , in production between 1881 and 1886. Loring supervised his milling interests until 1880, when his son A. C. Loring took responsibility for their management. The Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company led by John Martin purchased the Galaxy mill and beginning in 1891 operated nine mills in Minneapolis. By

920-857: The Loring Elementary School in the Camden community, the Loring Nicollet Alternative School in the Stevens Square neighborhood, the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown as well as other businesses carry his name. The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board's Charles M. Loring Award is named in his memory. The Camp Fire Girls planted a spruce tree in his memory on the south shore of Lake Harriet . Loring died at his home in Minneapolis at

966-659: The Loring Park Art Festival and the wintertime Holidazzle are some of the more famous events. Loring Park's location directly across from the Walker Art Museum makes it a fitting venue for the annual Loring Park Art Festival and a series of smaller artist gatherings. In 2014 and 2015 Chipotle held their Cultivate free music and culinary festival in Loring Park. The 2014 lineup included Portugal. The Man , The Mowgli's , and Grouplove . Walk

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1012-1045: The Minneapolis Board of Trade in 1875 and from 1886 to 1890 served as president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, renamed the Minneapolis Grain Exchange . Loring cofounded the Morgan Machine Co. in Rochester, New York . He served as president of the Minnesota Forestry Association, the National Park and Outdoor Association, the Lakewood Cemetery Association, and the Sons of Maine and as vice president of

1058-476: The Moon , Atlas Genius , X Ambassadors , Anderson East , and Hippo Campus were all slotted to appear at the 2015 festival. Andrew Zimmern and Richard Blais also attended the event, a part of the festival's gratuitous "Chef Demos." In addition, Loring Park is home to the annual "Winterfest at Loring Park," which in 2016 included horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday crafts and the local Kairos Dance Company. It

1104-584: The National Board of Trade. Despite opposition from the Knights of Labor who eventually became supporters, on January 23, 1883, the Minneapolis Board of Trade passed resolutions to secure legislation to create a Board of Park Commissioners, and the city ratified a Park Act on April 3, 1883. Loring was the natural choice and was appointed the commission's first president. He was reelected each term and served until 1890 when he insisted on resigning because

1150-686: The North American Telegraph Company. In 1881 with William D. Washburn , Joel Bean Bassett, Sumner W. Farnham, James A. Lovejoy and Otis Arkwright Pray, Fletcher and Loring co-founded the Minnesota Electric Light and Electric Motive Power Company, later the Minnesota Brush Electric Company. The group ran lines to bars and businesses on Washington Avenue and supplied them from the first hydroelectric central power plant in

1196-639: The U.S., thirteen years before the Niagara Falls plant went on line in 1894. In 1883 with Washburn, Martin, H. T. Welles, Thomas Lowry , George R. Newell, Anthony Kelly, Clinton Morrison, J. K. Sidle, W. W. Eastman, William D. Hale, Charles A. Pillsbury and Charles J. Martin, Loring incorporated the Minneapolis Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company known as the Soo Line Railroad . Loring also owned real estate and

1242-475: The age of 88. He is buried in Lakewood Cemetery which he helped to create near Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis. The City of Riverside declared April 17, 1923 Loring Day and dedicated a plaque to him, inscribed with this memorial: In honor of Charles M. Loring Treelover And Civic Enthusiast Let dead names be eternalized by dead stones Let living names by living shafts be known: Plant thou

1288-502: The early 1900s and until the Great Depression , Washburn-Crosby which became General Mills , Pillsbury-Washburn , and Northwestern which became part of Standard Milling Company were an oligopoly, holding 97% of the Minneapolis flour market. Through his business associations, Loring contributed to major advances in the infrastructure of Minneapolis, to supply electricity, as a director of a railroad, and as chief executive of

1334-720: The first city hall. He was a popular and generous man who enjoyed many friendships and business associations. Loring is remembered as the influential commissioner and president of the first Minneapolis park board. Considered the "Father of the Park System" in Minneapolis, Loring encouraged the city to work with Horace Cleveland , one of the first landscape architects , and park superintendents William W. Berry and Theodore Wirth . The city built what has been called, "the best-located, best-financed, best-designed, and best-maintained public open space in America." Loring's grandfather

1380-555: The northward extension to complement the original space with a more open area that features a walkway and the 300-foot-long (91 m) Alene Grossman Memorial Arbor. The centerpiece of the garden is the Spoonbridge and Cherry (1985–1988) fountain designed by husband and wife Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen . The Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge (1988), designed by Siah Armajani , crosses Hennepin Avenue and I-94, connecting

1426-473: The original design but not initially installed. Walker Art Center staff joke that the Ashbery untitled poem, which was commissioned for the bridge, is the "longest poem in the world" since the bridge stretches over 16 lanes of interstate traffic for 375 feet. In 2016 and 2017, the garden was reconstructed to provide more sustainable water management in an area that was previously a marsh. A water collection tank

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1472-436: The park and to drain the bog in the lake. They used plants that were brought in from nearby woods to complete the design for the park. They also decided at this time to make the park pedestrian only. In 1906 the first permanent building in any Minneapolis park was constructed in Loring Park. The heated two-story shelter was donated by Charles Loring and was used as a warming house, recreation center and kindergarten. In 1960,

1518-627: The park board in Minneapolis. Loring Park was purchased by the Minnesota Public Parks board on April 28, 1883. The land was purchased for $ 150,000 and contained 30 acres of land. A few more pieces of land were added to the park for a total cost of $ 350,000. This was the first plot of land that was purchased by the Minnesota Public Parks board. Shortly after purchasing the land, the Minneapolis Public Parks board hired George Brakett and Horace Cleveland to design

1564-467: The park renovated the shelter to be used as a space for senior programs. It was the first Minneapolis park to provide senior activities. Loring Park was the first park in Minnesota to have electric lights. The lights were installed in fall of 1884 to be used to illuminate the pond during winter skating season. In 1916 the local General Mills Company provided the park with 91 electric lights. Loring Park

1610-480: The sculpture garden with Loring Park for pedestrians. The bridge was restored in 2018 when MnDOT replaced the wooden deck, repainted the bridge, and replaced the John Ashbery poem that stretches across the bridge beams in metal letters with new letters. The bridge was repainted in consultation with Armajani to ensure the colors met his original design. The renovation included lights on the bridge that were part of

1656-668: The smallest in the Mississippi west bank milling district. With George Hineline they added three limestone stories and operated it as the W. F. Cahill & Co. Holly mill. During this period, Loring served in the city government, first as road supervisor and in 1872 as a Minneapolis City Council member from the Fifth Ward in the Near North community. The group sold the Holly mill in 1872 to W. H. and F. S. Hinkle and purchased

1702-543: The television series Man v. Food ' s first-season finale were filmed in Loring Park. Charles M. Loring Charles Morgridge Loring (November 13, 1833 – March 18, 1922) was an American businessman, miller and publicist. Raised in Maine to be a sea captain, Loring instead became a civic leader in Minneapolis , Minnesota where he was a wealthy flour miller and in Riverside, California where he helped to build

1748-578: The west had been used for sport recreation via mildly-improved playing fields and the 1950 construction of the original Parade Stadium . In 1988, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opened, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape architects Quinnel and Rothschild. Parade Stadium was demolished in 1990, two years later the Garden was expanded, adding 3.5 acres (1.4 ha). Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates, Inc. designed

1794-733: Was a director of Syndicate Insurance Co., the Minnesota Title Insurance Co. and the Minnesota Loan and Trust Co. which eventually became part of today's Wells Fargo . The first Minnesota Flower Show was held July 4, 1863 and was organized by Loring who was a member of the Minnesota Horticultural Society. He co-founded the Minnesota Homœopathic Medical College which opened in 1886. Loring acted as president of

1840-835: Was a quilter whose Crazy Quilt is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts . The Lorings constructed the Florence Barton Loring Shelter in 1906 to protect children, lost animals and the city's draft horses . Known at different times as the Minneapolis Humane Society, the Animal Rescue League, and the Animal Humane Society of Hennepin County, today's Animal Humane Society (AHS)

1886-642: Was a respected teacher in Portland, Maine known as Master Loring, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Hingham, Massachusetts . Charles himself was a fifth great grandson of Hingham immigrant Deacon Thomas Loring . His mother was Sarah Wiley, a relative of Parson Wiley, a noted clergyman. His father Captain Horace Loring, a seaman who once visited the West Indies , took the young Loring on voyages as far from home as Cuba to prepare him for

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1932-408: Was able to use these unique aspects of his new home to slowly build his fortune. In 1861, Loring joined Fletcher in L. Fletcher & Co., a general store specializing in supplies for lumbermen on Nicollet Avenue across from Minneapolis City Hall where they prospered for fifteen years. They joined with W. F. Cahill to convert the municipal waterworks building into a flour mill run on hydropower ,

1978-518: Was installed near Spoonbridge and Cherry to provide water for the garden and adjacent ball fields. Other improvements were made, including narrowing Vineland Place between the Walker Art Center and the garden and providing upgraded restroom facilities. The Walker added 18 new art works to the garden after this reconstruction, including a site-specific commission from Theaster Gates in his first permanent outdoor sculpture, Black Vessel for

2024-488: Was located there near Loring Park for 40 years. Florence Loring also built a home for nurses near the hospital in Riverside, California where the Lorings lived in winter. Minneapolis was founded at Saint Anthony Falls , the only waterfall on the Mississippi River , because of the potential for energy created by falling, flowing water. Loring understood the city's geography —its waterfalls, lakes and river banks—and

2070-440: Was preserved around every Minneapolis lake. Many donations and acquisitions of property came early enough that the land was affordable. In 1872 for example, the city thought William S. King 's price of $ 50,000 was too high for the 250 acres (1.0 km ) of land around Lake Harriet . Thirty years later it would have sold for $ 2,000,000. Minnehaha Falls received pilgrimages from fans of Longfellow 's The Song of Hiawatha by

2116-617: Was the center of the case Johnson v. Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB). This lawsuit was between the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Brian Johnson over First Amendment rights. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that MSRB can not ban non-commercial material distribution in the park unless the material violates the law. Loring Park is the venue for various annual events. The Twin Cities LGBTQ+ Pride Festival,

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