Loeb Arcade - Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Loeb Arcade was located at Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis. There were entrances on both Hennepin and Fifth. At the time the arcade was opened, it surrounded another building on the corner. Inside, an L-shaped corridor curved from entrance to the other.

The Loeb Arcade's opening in November 1914 was reported in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune on November 8, 1914. The arcade was built at a cost of $750,000 and was Minneapolis' first building of this kind. The stores along the corridors were said to fill the demand for lower rents in the retail district. The newspaper article contained the following description of the building:

Four stories in height, of modern fireproof steel and concrete construction, the exterior is done in a brown terra cotta. Two spacious entrances on Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street, respectively, admit into an equally spacious corridor of mosaic flooring presided on either side, according to the "arcade idea," by a continuous chain of storerooms appointed in mahogany and white marble basing. The corridor, eighteen feet in width and leading from street to street, affords a convenient meeting place or shelter from the weather and is a short cut to those passing through. An upward glance discloses a tastily conceived color scheme of striking white enamel terra cotta shaded with rich green and brown. Three large balconies completely circling the corridor on either side and bridged at the center of the building permit the comparison of a beautiful amphitheater lighted by a continuous skylight at the top of the structure. A most modern lighting system proves the building as successfully lighted by night as by day.

The Loeb Arcade was built in 1914 and demolished in 1967. It was originally four stories tall. It was increased to five stories around 1920 and cut back to two stories in the 1960s. After it was demolished, it was replaced by a parking lot.

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