We designed two and “a half” stores for the Seward Co-op. The Co-op began in the now hardware story at — and Franklin just West of the Office. Gail Graham was the Co-op General Manager. She was firm but fair, good to work with. Seward ReDEsign played a role under the leadership of David Fey, the Co-op bought a parking lot in the block West, next to the  Seward Cafe. To enliven the simple stucco building, we designed a huge dark green metal canopy at the entrance off Franklin. Budget was very tight so we chose peeled white pine tree trunks for the canopy columns. They came from Walker, MN near the remote yard of our contractor, Watson-Forsberg. They cost $200 a piece. We thought the columns and sloping, green metal canopy matched the Co-op and the Seward Neighborhood’s woodsy/natural, “Earthy/Crunchy” reputation.

 

The Co-op prospered and soon needed more room. The “half” store was an addition to the front/Street side for seating, etc. Soon it was clear that the Co-op needed a significantly larger store with more services. An ad appeared in the Seward Profile that described the project. I immediately called Sean Dole the new General Manager. Without fuss, (requests for proposals, interviews, etc.) I was hired!

 

Seward ReDesign again played a role in financing store number two. Watson-Forsberg was again the GC. The chosen site was the former Market Fair food store at Franklin and Riverside. The building and site were the original home to Lyndahl Oldsmobile. The fireplace store across the street was the dealership’s Service Garage.

 

Demonstrating  environmental consciousness was a major Co-op Program plank. The Store wanted to be LEED Gold Certified. It happened that one of my building tenants was a firm with LEED experience, Schrock-DeVetter Architects. LEED had some quirky requirements like although we reused the shell of the former market, we didn’t get any LEED points.

 

The original floor and window openings were restored and reinstated. The false ceilings were removed and steel trusses exposed making the space feel much more open. To save money, we installed a thickened subfloor in the second level Office space, sealed it, and omitted the finished flooring. It’s acquired a worn patina over the years but that natural look was fine with the Co-op staff.

 

On the exterior, the Main Level’s original brick was restored or replaced. The new addition announced itself with a grid work of painted Hardboard panels. To cover and seal the joints between, we used the aluminum strips typical on commercial storefronts, a design element twe had used successfully a few year before on the addition to the Cooper/Foster House in University Grove. The original paint on the squares matched the Co-op’s marketing materials. The new addition is offset from the old by about a foot to emphasis their different ages and histories.

 

An interesting conflict arose about the placement of the new building’s Northwest corner column by the Entrance. The original building was not quite square with the lot so placement of that column needed to be careful to stay within the property line. Being of the “old school” who still relied on printed documents, I turned to my print of the survey to establish the critical corner. As the Co-op’s foundation was being dug, the contractor discovered that the electronic survey copy on which our structural engineers and my staff had relied, showed the new addition over onto City property. The engineers and I had to scramble to redesign and pull back behind  the line. We wanted compensation for that work which the surveyor and Owner didn’t want to pay.

 

We all ended up in a lawyer’s office in the IDS Center where a mediator tried to get us to settle. Facing about ten others alone, I am proud to say that I stuck to my guns about surveys being consistent and original paper over electronics. We “settled” but I/we got the larger part of the split.

 

This was about as close to legal entanglements as I and the Firm ever got. Much to the amazement of our Stinson attorneys, Close Associates has always been able to work out differences with Owners, Contractors, and other team players. We have never been sued. On the Co-op projects, we worked once again with General Contractor Watson-Forsberg. Working with trusted, repeat players has made a critical difference.

 

After much hard work by all, and especially our Associate Architect,Mike Schrock, the building was nearing completion when Mike was struck and killed while jogging in the early morning dark in Northern MN at his father’s funeral. It was a terrible loss! Mike had been a tenant, partner, and occasional lunch time running buddy for many years. He was also the leader of our LEED team.

 

To their credit, his staff finished the required LEED documentation and the Co-op was granted LEED Gold certification. We had told Sean Doyle early on that they would save a considerable fee if they simply installed a plaque that read “Designed According to LEED Principles” but the

Co-op wanted the real thing.

 

A surprise honor came a little later when the Co-op was selected “Best Minneapolis Retail Project of the Year”. There was a fine ceremony Downtown and a nice plaque for Sean and the Co-op. Lisl Close was never one to seek the limelight and seldom applied for awards. From her I eventually learned to especially treasure recognition like this that comes unexpectedly.