McClellan building fades after a century downtown

It's rare that an older building is demolished in Minneapolis these days without an extensive review process examining its historical uses and notable architectural features.

But that's precisely what occurred in downtown east last week, where the one-time home of the McClellan Paper Company was torn down after standing for 99 years at the corner of 4th Street South and Park Avenue.

Unlike the nearby Star Tribune headquarters (which will be demolished next spring) the McClellan building did not receive a historical review because it fell under the purview of the state's stadium legislation, superseding local land use rules, according to the city's architectural historian John Smoley.

So what do we know about the so-called "McClellan building"? Here's what we at MPLS were able to find:

The McClellan Paper Company was founded in 1884. A newspaper article in the 1930s described it as "one of the oldest and largest wholesale paper houses in the northwest." It was believed, the article said, that McClellan was the largest distributor of toilet paper in the northwest.

McClellan's original Minneapolis offices were located at 245 First Avenue North, beside what is now the McKesson Building, based on a 1910 photograph from the Minnesota Historical Society. Click here for a before/after of that property.

Above: Image courtesy of Hennepin County Library.

The same article described its president, Fred L. McClellan, as "one of the most progressive business men in the Twin Cities." Born in Canada, McClellan (pictured below in 1931 after his retirement) arrived in Minneapolis in 1882 -- when the city's population still hovered around 46,000. He served as a clerk at a hardware store and later worked at a paper wholesaler before founding his company. His house still stands northwest of Lake of the Isles.

McClellan was a member of the local Rotary Club, entertaining fellow members at the paper house in 1920 with a speech titled "Paper and its evolutionary influence on civilization." But the Rotary Club wasn't all business: in 1921 McClellan captained a winning team in a cracker eating competition.

He ran for the city's Park Board in 1921, losing a four-seat race by about 4,000 votes, according to meticulous records curated by the Minneapolis Election Trends website.

Newspaper clippings about the company -- dredged up by Hennepin County Library researchers -- show McClellan Paper often made the news for its celebrations and banquets. For its 25th anniversary in 1919, the company called in its traveling representatives for a 100-employee party at the Hotel Radisson, where dancing and music lasted until midnight.

Around 1940, Chicago-based Butler Paper Company bought McClellan paper and made slight changes to the downtown east building to "enable the company to expedite deliveries and render better service," according to a newspaper article.

The Star Tribune bought the building (also known as the Butler building) several decades ago, said company spokesman Steve Yaeger, though the precise date could not be determined. The paper printed its TV guide booklet there until the mid-1980s. It served as the downtown distribution depot from about 2000 to 2010, Yaeger said.

In its place, Ryan Companies will build a 1,600-stall parking ramp for stadium activities and a high-rise apartment building.

Here are some pictures of what the building looked like before it came down late last week.

Here is video of the demolition, taken by fellow reporter James Shiffer: