The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connect various buildings in 80 full city blocks over of

Downtown Minneapolis Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes the many old flour mills, the Mill District, and other historical and industri ...

, enabling people to walk in climate-controlled comfort year-round. The skyways are owned by individual buildings in Minneapolis, and as such they do not have uniform opening and closing times. The 9.5 miles of skyway are comparable to the Houston tunnel system, the systems in

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

cities such as Toronto's

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desir ...

, Montreal's Underground City,

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's 11-mile Plus 15 system and the 8-mile

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system. The Minneapolis skyways connect the second or third floors of various office towers, hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, and retail stores to the Nicollet Mall shopping district, the Mayo Clinic Square, and the sports facilities at

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, h ...

, Target Field and U.S. Bank Stadium. Several condominium and apartment complexes are skyway-connected as well, allowing residents to live, work, and shop downtown without having to leave the skyway system.

History and development

The city's first skyways were planned by real estate developer Leslie Park and his architect Edward Baker (Baker Associates) in the early 1960s and built by Crown Iron Works Company of Minneapolis. Sensing pressure from indoor shopping malls such as Southdale Center, Park wanted to create a similar environment in Downtown Minneapolis that would offer a climate-controlled space and a way for pedestrians to move from building to building. He built two skyways connecting the newly constructed Northstar Center building to the Northwestern Bank Building and the Roanoke Building. The skyway to the Northwestern Bank Building was built in 1962 and the skyway to the Roanoke Building followed the next year. The second skyway still remains in use today and is the system's oldest segment. The system grew to seven total segments by 1972, though many of the skyways remained disconnected from one another. The construction of the IDS Center in 1972 helped to unify the system. The building featured skyways in all four directions as well as a spacious atrium area called the Crystal Court, allowing it to act as a central hub for the entire system. In 1976, the Downtown Council produced the first formal maps and signage for the system. The 1987 album '' Pleased to Meet Me'' by The Replacements contained a song entitled ''Skyway.'' Inspired by Minneapolis, the song used the skyway as a metaphor for unrequited love. In 2016, the U.S. Bank Stadium became connected to the Minneapolis skyway via a mixed-use development of office buildings and apartment complexes in Downtown East, Minneapolis.

Notable buildings connected

* Fifth Street Towers * Butler Square * IDS Center * Northstar Center * Foshay Tower * U.S. Bank Stadium *

* Target Field * Hawthorne Transportation Center * Mayo Clinic Square * Minneapolis Central Library * Minneapolis Convention Center * University of St. Thomas *

Capella Tower Capella Tower (also 225 South Sixth) is an office skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The building opened in 1992 as First Bank Place, replacing One Financial Plaza as the headquarters for First Bank System. In 1997, First Bank ...

* Wells Fargo Center * 33 South Sixth/ Minneapolis City Center * Two22 (formerly Campbell Mithun Tower) * Ameriprise Financial Center *

Hennepin County Government Center Hennepin County Government Center is the courthouse and primary county government administration building for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Central, Minneapolis, downtown Minneapolis, the county seat of Hennep ...

* US Bank Plaza * RBC Plaza * US Bancorp Center * AT&T Tower * 100 Washington Square * 510 Marquette Building * Rand Tower

Guides

Various guides to navigation exist including paper and online maps as well as an app.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Downtown Minneapolis – Hotels and Skyways map of system
Minneapolis CVB 2016
Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Guide
interactive map. Skyway My Way, 2012. Buildings and structures in Minneapolis Pedestrian bridges in Minnesota Pedways in the United States Skyways Transportation in Minneapolis