david a. lanegran geography department macalester college

David A. LanegranDavid A. Lanegran

Geography Geography DepartmentDepartment

Macalester Macalester CollegeCollege

DevelopmentPart 10: Deindustrialization

Geography of the Twin Cities

While the new edge cities were mushrooming along the western freeways, the rail corridors were scenes of de-industrialization. In this scene at the South St. Paul Stockyards, we see that the viaduct on which livestock were driven from the yards to the Armour slaughterhouse has been disconnected in anticipation of the razing of Armour's and eventual closing of the stockyards. The giant railroad-oriented stockyards could not compete with new, more mechanized packing plants located further out in the country, closer to the supply of animals. The old packing plants could not be modernized enough to be competitive.

The Commission building stood abandoned for about two decades, awaiting some sore of creative re-use. It was finally converted to a restaurant and a small hotel. The first hotel

failed.

View of the vacant Armour plant from the main gates. Real estate speculators bought the derelict factory from Greyhound, the corporate parent of Armour's. After a few years of renting to small businessmen, the realtors sold it to the South St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA). The HRA felt the building was a potential safety hazard and also wished to try to create some economic growth from the site.

Once the site was purchased, a demolition firm was hired to raze the various buildings on the site and dispose of the millions of bricks and miles of steal reinforcing rods. The materials

were all recycled.

The de-industrialization of South St. Paul is just an example of the restructuring of the urban economy. Local governments or business organizations have little power in the face of major historic forces. The cities must quickly find new economic activities or deal with dramatic declines in population and economic viability.

This view of the Hiawatha corridor gives us the opportunity to see the old railroad strip before demolition began to make way for the light-rail facility that will connect the Mall of America and airport to inner neighborhoods and the downtown of Minneapolis. Like the effort in St. Paul to improve linkages to the freeway system, the plans to build the new road and light-rail system reflect the need to continually update the connections between the CBD and the other centers of activity in the city area.

The 3M sandpaper manufacturing buildings still occupy their original site along the railroad's corridor on St. Paul's East Side. These enormous factories produce almost no pollution and attract workers from all over the east metro area. They are among the last large industrial employers in the city.

This shopping center and parking lot is all that remains of the Whirlpool, formerly Seager, appliance company. This is another example of the deindustrialization of the city center. The loss of the well paying jobs in the industrial sector could not be matched by the new low paying jobs in the service sector. In addition, we see a change from the basic manufacturing jobs that brought money into the metro area by means of the machines they made and sold elsewhere to non-basic service jobs, thus re-circulating local dollars.

The Phalen Corridor on St. Paul's East Side. This old industrial corridor along the rail right of way leading to the northeast from downtown St. Paul is currently receiving a great deal of attention as the Port Authority and others seek ways to re-use these abandoned sites and support the surrounding neighborhoods.

Potential redevelopment site in the Phalen Corridor. If these sites are to be

attractive, the transportation system must be altered.

Williams Hill and the western and downtown edge of the Phalen Corridor is the site of several new buildings, and it represents a possible future for the rest of the Corridor.

The new development is essentially a suburban industrial park in the city center.

The Main Gates of Armour's. The South St. Paul HRA has followed a similar plan to redevelop the stockyards; office buildings and light manufacturing have replaced the large-scale railroad industrial activity.

New use of the old Armour's site.

The old Munitions Factory in Arden Hills presents a major development opportunity as well as an environmental problem. This square-mile site was cleared of farms in 1941 and has been the scene of industrial activities for decades. It is now semi-abandoned and various plans have been put forth for its redevelopment. However, cleaning up the pollution on the site will be a major problem.

The munitions sites contain the Mounds, which are major landmarks in the areas, yet the old buildings do not have a great deal of value. The site is owned by the Federal Government, so redevelopment will be complicated.