SHELARD PARK

The Shelard Park neighborhood was annexed by St. Louis Park in 1954. [We don't know exactly what was there before, but in 1953, Merry Hills Kennel, operated by John and Hazel Demuth, operated at 9920 Wayzata Blvd.]

The first component of the complex, located at west of Highway 100 and north of I-394, was the 8-story Shelard Park Office Building, opened on February 1, 1971. Designed by James Cooperman, the 8-story building was the first piece of a $45 million complex which was planned to include another 8-story office building, a 27-story apartment building (1500 apartments), and more, surrounding a 6 acre park.

Shelard Tower, 21 stories, reached its full height in November 1974, to be occupied in October 1975. The building cost $17 million. General partners of the Shelard development were Robert Liesen and Sheldon Wert. The complex also included a 1500-stall, 5-story parking ramp. One of the major initial tenants was General Mills.  The picture at right is from 1981.

                                                                    
Attached to the Tower was the Hippogriff Restaurant, “A Very Important Bar Restaurant.” The restaurant was designed by John Neal, Associate Project Corp. of Minneapolis, and won an Institutions/VFM Magazine’s Interior Award. Burton Grossman was the president of the Hoppogriff.  Terry D. had this memory of the Hippogriff:  "My wife and I went to this bar/restaurant two separate times, once in 1971 and early 1972 shortly after it opened, to see a young unknown struggling comedian sharpening his trade -  his name was Steve Martin. On both occasions when we arrived at the bar Steve was sitting alone at the bar waiting to perform. He went on to make his first appearance on the "Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson in October 1972."

In 1975, a fire ripped through the Shelard Plaza movie theater, causing $100,000 in damage. Fire departments from Golden Valley and Edina were called in. The damage was repaired quickly, for in the same year, the three screen theater opened with “Breakout,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Shampoo.”

The complex would eventually encompassed 109.6 acres when completed in 1986, and would include a shopping center, movie theaters, and a restaurant.

St. Louis Park has four properties on Wayzata Blvd. that are in the Shelard section:

9801 Wayzata Blvd. was a tudor house that had been moved in from Minnetonka Blvd. in 1955.  It has been torn down, except for the garage, which is in the corner of what was Santorini's parking lot.

9920 was built in 1973 and was first the Amalgamated Eating and Drinking Co., with a kind of coal mine ambiance.  The building became Santorini.

9950 is an office building built in 1979.

9970 is the Mariott Hotel, built in 1986.  When it was built it had 7 floors, 171 rooms, and 24 suites.

1000 Shelard Parkway is an office building, built in 1985 at the westernmost border of St. Louis Park.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.