Take a trip into the historic heart of Minneapolis. Today it's center of a revitalizing downtown, but once it was home to the largest Skid Row in the upper Midwest. Urban redevelopment swept away nearly 200 buildings in the early 1960s, but enough remains of the old city to enable a journey of imagination into a streetscape of cheap bars, flophouses and rescue missions.

Your guide will be James Eli Shiffer, a Star Tribune editor and columnist, and the author of the new book, "The King of Skid Row: John Bacich and the Twilight Years of Old Minneapolis." Copies of Shiffer's book will be available for purchase before and after each tour.

What: Skid Row Minneapolis: A walking tour of the old Gateway District

When: This event is sold out. Check back in late June/early July for more Star Tribune walking tours.

Where: Star Tribune Building, 650 3rd Av. S, Mpls. Meet at the Star Tribune check-in table in the building's atrium.

Distance: A little more than one mile

Cost: $16

Reservation required: www.startribune.com/streetscapestour