Minneapolis' historic Foshay Tower celebrates its 95th year

Even shrouded in fog and clouds, the iconic name "Foshay" shines bright among the giant glass and steel structures of downtown Minneapolis. And it's still doing it 95 years later.

The Historic Foshay Tower celebrates a birthday this August 30. Completed in 1929, the building’s thirty-two story tower was the tallest skyscraper between Chicago and the West Coast until 1973. Its height and extravagant building materials represented the wealth of W. B. Foshay Companies.

And of course, it was the roaring twenties so the original dedication ceremony was one heck of a party according to current General Manager Carlos Rodriguez.

"25,000 people were invited and they were actually flown from a lot of different places, sometimes even on private planes," Rodriguez explains. "And they received, you know, very, very expensive gifts."

The building has a unique design.

"As you go up in the building, each floor is actually smaller than the one below it," Rodriguez said. "I guess it provides better support for the floors above it."

But most importantly, it has soul.

"All the love that was poured into the building when it was first conceived, this building has a special place in everyone's hearts and minds," Rodriguez tells WCCO.

It's certainly survived the test of time, including an early test when the stock market crashed just two months after its completion.

Standing proudly on the corner of 8th and Marquette for 95 years now, the Foshay has constantly been a draw in the city, even as other bigger, taller skyscrapers began to dwarf it. According to Rodriguez, Prince was once a frequent visitor to the iconic building.

Besides the occasional celebrity, the building has also spawned numerous marriage proposals.

"I used to go to physical therapy just right across the street and we talked about the building," Rodriguez explained. "He and I created a bond and he ended up proposing to his girlfriend and now fiance here in the building, up on the observation deck. This building has made an imprint on a lot of people's lives."

Rodriguez says they're still in the process of planning a birthday celebration.

"We are still brainstorming but I'm sure we'll come up with something really, really fun and exciting for everyone to be part of this important celebration," he says. "Not only for us working here, but also for the city and everyone who loves the building and loves the Foshay."

The man responsible for building it was Wilbur Burton Foshay. A native of New York, Foshay studied electricity, mechanics, and engineering at Cooper Institute. He came to Minneapolis in 1915 to work for electric light and telephone poles manufacturer Paige and Hill. Soon, he’d purchase the Ponca Electric Company of Nebraska and in 1917 created W. B. Foshay Company in Minneapolis, a public utilities holding company. His company grew as did his fortune.

In 1928, Foshay commissioned a design for the company’s new headquarters. Foshay recalled a childhood memory of visiting the Washington Monument with his father. He stood in awe of the obelisk, and told his father he would erect a building like it one day.

As a symbol of his personal success, Foshay requested his building be modeled after the monument. Designed by French architect Leon Arnal, the building’s obelisk structure was an engineering feat at the time of its construction. At ground level, the tower is 81 feet by 87 feet, and at the top it measure 59 feet by 65 feet.

The building is Art Deco in style and the façade is Indiana limestone. On each side of the top of the tower, the word “FOSHAY” shines proudly in 10-foot-tall letters. It is the only rooftop sign in downtown Minneapolis. Two-story buildings constructed in phases between 1920 and 1928 surround the base of the tower and serve as a pedestal.

The Foshay Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 for its significance in architecture and engineering. In 2006-2008, it was renovated and reopened as a 230-room hotel, the W Minneapolis-The Foshay.