Guided tours are not available but docents are always happy to answer questions from visitors.
Museum Phone: 612-215-3783
W Hotel: 612-215-3700
Chambers Minneapolis: 612-767-6900
Contact Person: Jennifer Phelps, Art Director / Art Consultant for Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis
Contact Phone: 612-767-6824
Contact Email: jphelps [at] chambersminneapolis [dot] com
Hours of Operation: The museum is open 12pm to 9pm daily, year around.
Minimum Group Size: 10 persons
Maximum Group Size: unknown
Cost per Child/Student: free for children under the age of 12
Cost per Adult/Educator: group rate is $5/person ages 12 and up
Target Age Range/Prerequisite Skills: Good for all ages, but some height is necessary to see over the walls of the observation deck, although stools are provided.
Cancellation Policy/Cancellation Deadline: Very flexible!
Gathering Place Recommendations: By the fountain and open space in the TCF building attached to the W Hotel.
Additional information at http://nrhp.mnhs.org/property_overview.cfm?propertyID=27
The lifelong dream of Wilbur Foshay, an art student turned businessman who arrived penniless and built a massive utility company empire, the tower is modeled after the Washington Monument with many unique and one-of-the kind features. Completed shortly before the stock market crash in October 1929, the tower was the tallest building in Minneapolis until surpassed by the IDS Center in 1972. It remains one of the tallest concrete skyscrapers to this day, second only to the Empire State Building. The museum features access to the open-air deck and many photographs and historical documents related to the creation of the tower and the triumphs and tragedies of Wilbur Foshay.
Learn More
- Music for Wind Band Vol. 1
contains "Foshay Tower (Washington Memorial)" march by John Philip Sousa
Naxos, 2000
- Minneapolis-St.Paul then & now
Hanje Richards
Thunder Bay Press, 2001
- Faint praise: a Jane Lawless mystery
Ellen Hart
Seal Press, 1995
- Foshay Tower Observatory Desk
peterodl
You Tube video, 2008
- Historic photos of Minneapolis Heather
Block Lawton
Turner Pub. Co., 2007
- Minneapolis in the Twentieth Century: the growth of an American city
Iric Nathanson
Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010
- American Art Deco: architecture and regionalism
Carla Breeze
W.W. Norton, 2003
- Downtown: a history of downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the words of the people who lived it.
David Anderson, ed.
Nodin Press, c2000
- Mr. Foshay's Legend
MPR
February 1, 2000
- AIA guide to the downtown Minneapolis
Larry Millett
Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010
- Art deco architecture: design, decoration and detail from the twenties and thirties
Patricia Bayer
Harry N. Abrams, 1992
- Minnesota marvels: roadside attractions in the Land of Lakes
Eric Dregni
University of Minnesota Press, 2001
- Foshay Tower
Wikipedia
