Last night, Saturday, September 11, Demolition Dreaming screened at Traffic Zone Gallery in downtown Minneapolis to a capacity audience. The screening took place just three blocks from the Gateway District, where the movie is set. Following the screening, the audience stayed for a panel discussion featuring several experts on Minneapolis history, historic re-use, and urban morphology, the study of how cities change. The panel was led by Brenda Kayzar, urban geographer and Collaborative Strategist and Owner of Urbane DrK Consulting, Penny Peterson, historic researcher and author of Minneapolis Madams: The Lost History of Prostitution on the Riverfront (2013), Bill Lindeke, blogger about streets, cities, and professor of Geography at the University of MN, and Greg Handberg, Senior Vice President of Asset Management at Artspace.
The presentations of the panelists led into a lively discussion with the audience about the Gateway, historic preservation, urban renewal, and the impact of city planning on the vitality of communities.
The long gone Minneapolis Gateway District came alive again in a way during the discussion, and it was gratifying to see the film act as a great prompt for the discussion that followed it. Special thanks go out to the panel members, to Steve Ozone of Traffic Zone Gallery, who put the event together, and to Beth Peloff for running the food table, taping the discussion, and bringing her amazing homemade chocolate chip cookies!
