Minneapolis Uprising: The Murder of George Floyd
Photography from Minneapolis

April 2020

Downtown Minneapolis amid early COVID-19 Shutdowns

Downtown Minneapolis streets, venues, and transit infrastructure during the April 2020 COVID-19 shutdown

April 2020 in Minneapolis was defined by the deepening COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid transformation of daily life under statewide public health restrictions. Stay-at-home orders, business closures, and emergency declarations workplaces, and public space. Streets grew quieter as residents adapted to remote work, distance learning, and evolving guidance from city and state officials.

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Lucky Dragon Restaurant and Hard Times Cafe storefronts illuminated at night in Minneapolis.View full post: Lucky Dragon Restaurant and Hard Times Cafe on the West Bank
April 1, 2020 — Lucky Dragon Restaurant serves Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine from a storefront on Minneapolis's West Bank, in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood near the University of Minnesota. Next door, Hard Times Cafe has operated as a 24-hour coffeehouse since the early 1990s, drawing a mix of students, night-shift workers, and the neighborhood's longtime punk and counterculture crowd. Cedar-Riverside took shape as a dense immigrant enclave in the late 19th century and later became a center of Minneapolis's Somali and East African community, giving the area its wide range of restaurants and small businesses.
First Avenue music venue in downtown Minneapolis displays "VOTE 2020" on its marquee during COVID-19 shutdowns on April 2, 2020.View full post: “VOTE 2020” Marquee at First Avenue During Empty Streets
April 2, 2020 — First Avenue, the nightclub at 701 First Avenue North, occupies a building that opened in 1937 as a Greyhound bus depot before its conversion to a music venue in 1970. Its Mainroom has hosted acts from Prince—who filmed key s of "Purple Rain" here—to touring bands across nearly every genre. The 7th Street Entry, the smaller adjoining room, opened in 1980 as a launching pad for punk and indie acts. The building's exterior stars, added over the years, each mark a musician who has performed there. On this night the marquee read "VOTE 2020" instead of a show listing, a message posted while the venue sat closed under Minnesota's statewide shutdown orders.
Millennium Hotel in downtown Minneapolis illuminated at twilight with lit windows forming a heart pattern during early COVID-19View full post: Millennium Hotel Overlooking Downtown Minneapolis During COVID-19
April 3, 2020 — The Millennium Hotel Minneapolis sits at 1313 Nicollet Mall, a high-rise a few blocks from the Minneapolis Convention Center. The tower opened in the 1970s under an earlier flag before joining the Millennium Hotels and Resorts chain, and its upper floors face north over downtown toward the Mississippi River. During the early weeks of the 2020 coronavirus shutdown, hotel occupancy across downtown Minneapolis fell sharply as conventions, sporting events, and business travel came to a halt.
Hilton Minneapolis hotel displays "HOPE" message in illuminated windows during COVID-19 pandemic.View full post: Hilton Minneapolis Windows Spell “HOPE” During COVID-19
April 3, 2020 — The Hilton Minneapolis, a 32-story tower at 1001 Marquette Avenue, spelled out the word "HOPE" and a heart in its guest-room windows on April 3, 2020, during the early weeks of Minnesota's COVID-19 stay-at-home order. The 821-room hotel opened in 1992 and remains one of the largest in the state. Just north of the hotel stands Westminster Presbyterian Church, a Gothic Revival building completed in 1897 for a congregation founded in 1857, making it one of downtown Minneapolis's oldest continuously operating churches.
Empty parking level at Ramp A garage in downtown Minneapolis with yellow bollards and directional markings.View full post: Ramp A’s Upper Levels Sit Empty in Downtown Minneapolis
April 4, 2020 — Ramp A is one of several municipal parking ramps the City of Minneapolis operates in the downtown core, serving nearby government offices, hotels, and retail. The ramp typically fills with commuters and visitors on weekdays but stood empty in early April 2020, during the citywide shutdown ordered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Seville Club nightclub with red neon sign on 1st Avenue North in downtown Minneapolis during April 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns.View full post: Seville Club on 1st Avenue North During Empty Downtown Streets
April 4, 2020 — The Seville Club sits at 1st Avenue North and 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis, near the Target Center. Its red neon sign has long marked the block along a stretch of downtown known for nightlife and entertainment venues. In April 2020, statewide stay-at-home orders halted nightclub operations and left the surrounding streets and parking areas largely empty, a temporary condition rather than a permanent closure.
Loews Hotel and Target Center illuminated at night in downtown Minneapolis.View full post: Loews Minneapolis Hotel Beside Target Center at Night
April 4, 2020 — The Loews Minneapolis Hotel sits along First Avenue North next to the Target Center arena in downtown Minneapolis. Target Center opened in 1990 and has served as the home arena for the Minnesota Timberwolves and, since 1999, the Minnesota Lynx. The arena holds roughly 18,798 fans for basketball and has hosted concerts and other events since its debut. The Loews hotel occupies a tower built in 2000 as part of the same downtown block, giving visitors direct access to the arena's entertainment district.
Spiral parking ramp with yellow-painted curbs and concrete support columns in downtown Minneapolis.View full post: Spiral Ramp Inside Ramp C Parking Garage, Downtown Minneapolis
April 6, 2020 — Ramp C is a municipal parking garage in downtown Minneapolis, operated by the city as part of its downtown parking system. The structure's central spiral connects its parking levels with a continuous curved roadway rather than straight ramps between floors, a common design solution for maximizing vehicle capacity on a compact urban site. Yellow curb markings delineate the traffic lane around the concrete support core. Facilities like Ramp C serve commuters, downtown employees, and visitors to nearby offices and entertainment venues in the central business district.
Interstate 35W and connecting ramps at night in Minneapolis with Cedar-Riverside neighborhood visible in background.View full post: Interstate 35W Interchange Near Cedar-Riverside at Night
April 10, 2020 — Interstate 35W cuts through the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood just south of downtown Minneapolis, carrying traffic between the city center and southern suburbs along the Twin Cities' busiest north-south corridor. The high-rise towers of Riverside Plaza, built in 1973 as public housing and now home to a large East African immigrant community, stand along the freeway's western edge. The interchange visible here connects 35W with Washington Avenue and the University of Minnesota's West Bank campus, one of several ramps rebuilt after the 2007 collapse of the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River prompted a broader reconstruction of the corridor.
Metro Transit buses parked in a North Minneapolis storage lot at night.View full post: Metro Transit Buses Parked at a North Minneapolis Storage Lot
April 15, 2020 — Metro Transit operates the bulk of bus and rail service across Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the surrounding Twin Cities metro area. Its fleet includes standard 40-foot coaches like the ones numbered here, typically pulled from routes for storage, repair, or reassignment between garages. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency cut scheduled service significantly as ridership dropped, leaving more buses parked than usual. Metro Transit is run by the Metropolitan Council, the regional planning body that also oversees transit for the seven-county Twin Cities area.
Minneapolis downtown skyline at night viewed across Lake of the Isles with illuminated office towers and foreground park.View full post: Minneapolis Skyline at Night from Lake of the Isles
April 17, 2020 — Lake of the Isles sits at the western edge of Minneapolis's Chain of Lakes, linked by man-made channels to Bde Maka Ska to the south and Cedar Lake to the north.
Downtown Minneapolis skyline at night showing Centre Village and Hyatt Place hotel buildings, April 2020.View full post: Centre Village and Hyatt Place Above Downtown Minneapolis at Night
April 18, 2020 — Centre Village rises over downtown Minneapolis at Second Avenue South, a mixed-use high-rise completed in 1984 that combines residential units with commercial space. The Hyatt Place hotel occupies part of the same complex, serving business travelers and visitors to the city center. Both buildings sit within blocks of the Mississippi riverfront and the Central Business District, an area built up largely in the 1980s as downtown Minneapolis added residential towers alongside its office core.
Hennepin Healthcare Paramedic ambulances parked in a vehicle bay in downtown Minneapolis.View full post: Hennepin EMS Ambulances Lined Up in a Minneapolis Parking Bay
April 18, 2020 — Hennepin EMS operates as the ambulance service of Hennepin Healthcare, formerly known as Hennepin County Medical Center, which serves as Minnesota's only adult Level I trauma center and one of two in the state for pediatric trauma. The service covers Minneapolis and much of Hennepin County, responding to roughly 100,000 calls a year and transporting patients to HCMC's downtown campus on Chicago Avenue. Its paramedics also staff a community paramedic program that follows up with high-need patients outside the emergency room. HCMC has held its Level I trauma designation since the American College of Surgeons verification program began rating hospitals in the 1980s.
CNN broadcast with Chris Cuomo and Dr. Sanjay Gupta plays on television in the Marquette Hotel lobby, Minneapolis, April 2020.View full post: Empty Marquette Hotel Lobby During Chris Cuomo’s CNN Interview
April 18, 2020 — Chris Cuomo discussed his own coronavirus diagnosis with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, in an April 2020 segment that aired on the network amid the early weeks of the pandemic. The broadcast appeared on a lobby television at the Marquette Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, part of the Hilton-affiliated property on South Seventh Street near the IDS Center. Cuomo, then a primetime anchor for CNN, quarantined at home after testing positive and returned to reporting on air during his recovery.
Pedestrian crosswalk button in Minneapolis with COVID-19 notice stating pushing is not required and walk signal activatesView full post: Automatic Walk Signal Notice on a Minneapolis Crosswalk Button
April 21, 2020 — Minneapolis disabled the push-to-activate function on hundreds of pedestrian crossing buttons in spring 2020, switching signals to run on automatic timers instead. The city cited concerns about shared surfaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, part of a broader public health response that also touched transit, parks, and other city infrastructure. Signs like this one were taped over the manual buttons at intersections across the city, directing pedestrians to wait for the walk signal rather than press the crossing button.
Loews Hotel and Target headquarters illuminated at night in downtown Minneapolis with Target Dog neon sign in foreground.View full post: Target’s Bullseye Dog Sign Beneath Its Minneapolis Headquarters
April 23, 2020 — Target's corporate headquarters tower rises at 1000 Nicollet Mall, its glass exterior wrapped in a blue-lit crown near the top floors. The company has been based in downtown Minneapolis since its founding as a Dayton's discount offshoot in 1962, and its headquarters campus remains one of the largest employers in the city's core. The neon Bullseye dog sign near the building's base is a longstanding piece of Target's branding, drawn from the company's mascot, Bullseye. To the left, the Loews Minneapolis Hotel occupies part of the LaSalle Plaza complex, a mixed-use development completed in 1991 that also includes office space and street-level retail along Nicollet Mall.
Interstate 394 in Minneapolis nearly empty at night during COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020.View full post: Interstate 394 Empty During Minneapolis COVID-19 Shutdown
April 25, 2020 — Interstate 394 connects downtown Minneapolis to the western suburbs, running past the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and merging with Interstate 94 near the Lowry Hill Tunnel. The freeway opened in stages during the late 1980s and early 1990s, replacing what had long been planned as an inner-city extension of Highway 12. Minnesota's stay-at-home order, in effect from late March through mid-May 2020, cut traffic across the Twin Cities metro to a fraction of normal volumes. Overnight counts on routes like I-394 dropped by more than half compared to pre-pandemic averages during that period.
Eduardo Kobra's colorful Bob Dylan mural at Nicollet Mall station in downtown Minneapolis.View full post: Eduardo Kobra’s “Face of Music” Mural on Hennepin Avenue
April 27, 2020 — Eduardo Kobra painted this mural of Bob Dylan, titled "Face of Music," in 2015 for the Downtown Improvement District's Betsy-Ann Kane public art initiative. Brazilian street artist Kobra is known for his geometric, kaleidoscope-patterned portraits, which he has installed in cities worldwide. The mural covers roughly 90 feet of wall along the light rail corridor near Nicollet Mall Station, close to Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Dylan grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, and began his music career in Dinkytown near the University of Minnesota before moving to New York in 1961.
Cedar-Riverside Blue Line station platform at night in Minneapolis with yellow safety edge and rail tracks.View full post: Nighttime Platform at Cedar-Riverside Station
April 27, 2020 — Cedar-Riverside Station sits along Metro Transit's Blue Line, formerly the Hiawatha Line, which opened in 2004 as the region's first light-rail route. The station serves the Cedar-Riverside and West Bank neighborhoods, just south of downtown Minneapolis and adjacent to the University of Minnesota's West Bank campus. The Blue Line runs roughly 12 miles between downtown Minneapolis, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, and the Mall of America in Bloomington. Metro Transit operates the line with trains arriving every 7 to 10 minutes during peak service hours.
Interstate 35W construction site at night with downtown Minneapolis skyline and illuminated office towers beyond.View full post: I-35W Overnight Construction Beneath the Minneapolis Skyline
April 27, 2020 — Interstate 35W cuts through downtown Minneapolis on its way between the northern and southern suburbs, carrying more than 100,000 vehicles a day under normal conditions. The tallest building on the skyline, the IDS Center, rises 792 feet and has held the title of Minnesota's tallest structure since its completion in 1972, designed by architect Philip Johnson. Capella Tower, completed in 1992 as the Norwest Center, stands 776 feet tall and is topped by a lattice crown that's lit gold for much of the year. This stretch of freeway saw major nighttime lane closures and repaving work in spring 2020, part of ongoing maintenance on one of the Twin Cities' primary north-south corridors.
Punch Pizza closure notice posted in window announcing temporary restaurant shutdown on March 16, 2020, due to COVID-19.View full post: Punch Pizza Announces Temporary Closure of All Locations
April 29, 2020 — Punch Pizza posted this letter to customers announcing the temporary closure of all its restaurants beginning Monday, March 16, 2020. Signed by co-founders John Soranno and JP Audette, the notice cites the need to protect employees, customers, and the Twin Cities community from the spread of Covid-19. The letter notes the company was entering its 25th year in business at the time of the shutdown.
Walgreens A-frame sign instructs customers to maintain six feet of distance and follow CDC guidelines during COVID-19.View full post: Social Distancing Sign at a Minneapolis Walgreens
April 29, 2020 — Walgreens posted this A-frame sign outside one of its Minneapolis stores asking customers to keep six feet of distance, both inside and outside the building, in line with CDC guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacies were classified as essential businesses under Minnesota's stay-at-home order, allowing them to remain open while most retail closed. Chains including Walgreens adopted floor markers, capacity limits, and posted signage like this one to manage store traffic during the outbreak's early months.
Painted sign at Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis features portrait and text about staying active during pandemic lockdowns.View full post: Painted Portrait Sign by Marcus, Powderhorn Park
April 30, 2020 — The sign at Powderhorn Park pairs a painted portrait with a quoted statement: "I'm a very active person, being at home is hard, but I know is for the best." It's signed "Marcus Minneapolis" and includes a web address inviting others to participate, suggesting the piece was part of a broader community art project rather than a single standalone work. Powderhorn Park, on the city's South Side, became a gathering point for public art and expression during the spring 2020 pandemic shutdowns.
Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis features a curved path and large tree at sunset with the recreation center visible beyond.View full post: Sunset Through a Bare Tree at Powderhorn Park
April 30, 2020 — Powderhorn Park anchors a residential section of South Minneapolis, its 66 acres laid out around Powderhorn Lake since the park's founding in 1889. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board maintains the grounds, which include the lake itself, open lawns, and a recreation center built in the 1970s. The neighborhood surrounding the park takes its name from the same source, and the park remains one of the larger green spaces on the city's south side.

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