11 Most Endangered
Guthrie Theater
Year Listed: 2002
Location: Minnesota
Current Status: Lost
Threat: Development
The Guthrie is the creation of a visionary impresario, Tyrone Guthrie, who sought to escape the pressures of Broadway by establishing a professional repertory theater in the American heartland. Sleek and innovative and far ahead of its time, the Guthrie Theater has been the focal point of Minneapolis' cultural life for more than four decades. The theater, which opened in 1963, was designed by prominent Minnesota architect Ralph Rapson, a leading contributor to architecture's modern movement. The theater's innovative thrust stage and asymmetrical orientation literally set the stage for future theater design. The Walker Art Center, which owns the Guthrie, intends to demolish the theater and replace it with a sculpture garden, if they can raise the required funds.
