Northeast Minneapolis bar spared demolition as MnDOT shifts plans for University Avenue redo

The celebration is on at Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room, which got the good news last week that it will stay on the corner of University and Lowry avenues in northeast Minneapolis.

For months, owners, employees, customers and neighbors waited with angst as the Minnesota Department of Transportation considered several options for redoing a long stretch of University Avenue through northeast Minneapolis.

One of them would have taken down the 130-year-old building that has been the home of Stanley’s for the past 15 years.

MnDOT looked at community input and did a technical analysis in choosing the final design. At Lowry and University, the agency will shift the intersection slightly to the south from where it now sits and not put in a roundabout, which would have required demolition of Stanley’s.

“We are excited to stay open,” said Chasity Sorenson, marketing and events director for Craft & Crew Hospitality, which operates Stanley’s. “There was just so much unknown and not much we could do.”

Three other businesses at the crash-prone intersection also will get to stay, including a tobacco shop, auto body repair shop and a Mediterranean restaurant. Though all will give up some property, according to MnDOT designs.

Stanley’s will mark its 15th anniversary on Oct. 11, and the day-long party will be extra special instead of a last hurrah, Sorenson said.

Instead, the eatery will have live music, a bags tournament and offer flash tattoos for anybody “who wants to commemorate the day permanently,” Sorenson said.

Stanley’s also will bring back brisket sandwiches and other nostalgic food and beverage items from the past, Sorenson said.

MnDOT will give University an upgrade between 27th Avenue NE. and Hwy. 65/Central Avenue NE. As part of a $45 million project. The agency will reduce University to one travel lane in each direction separated by a shared center turn lane. The project also will widen sidewalks, add bike lanes and center medians in some places and remove on-street parking on much of the corridor.

“This design will increase safety and make University Avenue northeast easier for everyone to travel on,” MnDOT said.

Work to transform University, and specifically the intersection at Lowry Avenue, will begin in 2027.

Stanley’s has been hit more than 25 times, Luke Derheim, one of the co-owners of Craft & Crew Hospitality told the Minnesota Star Tribune in February.

MnDOT said it could achieve its goals of lowering crash frequency, reducing traffic delays, provide enough room for large freight vehicles making turns and make better connections for those using sidewalks and trail crossings without putting in a roundabout. A roundabout was one of the leading options when planning began.

While Stanley’s is cheering, Sorenson said the bar also has their neighbors in mind.