The National Park Service, the federal agency responsible for administering the National Register program, has the final word on the designation. Ordinarily, the National Register requires that buildings be at least 50 years old at the time they are determined to beeligible -- the Guthrie is 29 years old. In addition, the Walker as the longtime owner of the theater building can reject the designation.
The preservation committee undertook a review of the property in response to considerable public discussion and media coverage that came following the Guthrie'sannouncement of its planned move to the Minneapolis riverfront. Public interest intensified as the Walker Art Center, which owns the Guthrie Theater building, began expansion plans that would call for its demolition.
The museum has plans to tear down the structure as part of its $93-million expansion plan. The site would become an underground parking lot topped by an expansion of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. First, however, the Guthrie needs to raise enough money to build a $125-million, three-theater complex by 2005 -- a plan that includes a bid for $35 million in public funding is under debate in the Minnesota Legislature.
While the structure does not have the architectural significant it might have had without the major changes that have been made over the years, it still has major historical significance, according to Nina Archabal, who heads the preservation office as director of the Minnesota Historical Society. The Guthrie was considered part of the vanguard ofAmerica's regional theater movement, she says.
"It is simply not reasonable to conclude that the present Guthrie Theater has enough of its architectural integrity remaining to warrant a finding of eligibility based on architecture," she explains.
The building's most identifiable original feature, a multidimensional facade designed by Ralph Rapson, has been replaced by the building's current glass exterior, and the building has been extended eight feet from its original footprint. On the interior, changes have been made to the lobby, stage acoustics and lighting.
It also requires that the persons with whom the property is associated be deceased. Only Tyrone Guthrie of the theater's three principal creators is no longer alive.
Listing on the National Register does not protect a building from demolition. Owners of the Walker Art Center have publicly said they intend to remove the theater as part of an expansion plan and its intention to reject listing on the Register.
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