Thresher Square (Advanced Thresher Co. Building, Emerson-Newton Plow Co.)

708 S 3rd St.

Look closely at this structure and you will find that it is actually two buildings, one with 6 floors, the other with 7. You will also notice different terracotta signs and medallions. The nameplate on the building to the southwest (on your left as you view the fronts of the two buildings) says Advance Thresher Company; the nameplate on the building to the northeast says Emerson-Newton Implement Co.

Both buildings were designed by the architectural firm of Kees and Colburn. The Advance Thresher Company building was built in 1900; the Emerson-Newton Implement Company building was built four years later. Kees and Colburn employed the Sullivanesque architectural style, named after famous Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, which includes vertical window lines, terra cotta decoration, and a projecting cornice.

Frederick Kees is one of the most notable architects in Minneapolis. He had partnerships with Burnham W. Fisk and Frank B. Long prior to Serenus Colburn. Some of Kees' most notable designs include Minneapolis City Hall, the Masonic Temple (now Hennepin Center for the Arts), and Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

By the 1980s, manufacturing in the Advance Thresher/Emerson-Newton Implement Company building had ceased. The building was converted into office space by Arvid Elness Architects. In May of 2015, Sherman Associates purchased the buildings, now known collectively as Thresher Square, and have released plans to convert the building into a hotel before the 2018 Super Bowl, which will take place just blocks away in U.S. Bank Stadium.

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