Landmark Center

A beautiful building in the heart of downtown. They have all kinds of talent, especially musical for St. Patrick’s Day. It takes you back to the Irish influence of old St. Paul. They actually have an Art’s Charter High School on the upper level. If you read the book Silent Snow by Steve Thayer, a local author who hit it big, in it you’ll find fabulous descriptions of local St. Paul landmarks, including this one. This building is dripping in history, including some gangsters.

i had my wedding here on August 2, 2014 and it was absolutely beautiful! The venue itself is stunning and all of our guests loved it! The staff were extremely nice and accommodating! They allow outside caterers which was one of the main reasons why we chose this venue.

Fun, interesting galleries that are all free to the public and offer rich history of St. Paul and of course the landmark center as well. Inside the center there is a huge meeting space that can be and is usually rented out for weddings. It is so beautiful and has the highest ceilings. If you ever make it to a show or gallery opening it is such a treat and well worth the low cost! Love this place esp in the winter months as they often have fun events.

I LOVE the Landmark Center! First off, the venue is beautiful! Secondly, the staff is great and they do a wonderful job working with couples and their vendors. Third– there are so many perfect spots for photos! As a wedding photographer, I get really excited to shoot at the Landmark Center! The weddings always look fabulous! I highly recommend for a wedding reception venue– or a ceremony venue too! :)

It is a beautiful building, helpful staff and it was free. I like free!

Awesome place to come on St. Patrick’s Day! Many little stands selling different items and even some Irish dancers putting on a show. Really busy and crowded just like anywhere in St. Paul that day but it’s a fun time!

An Old Fashioned Craft Fair brought me here for the first time this holiday season. Just the entrance alone is absolutely stunning — you can tell that some meticulous reconstruction has been performed. I love experiencing historic buildings during an event — it keeps me from having to act so excited over simply viewing stained glass or embellished columns.
Inside this place is STUNNING! The craft fair itself actually took a back seat to the building — it’s hard to shop for gifts when your neck stays craned at a 45 degree angle to the sky. Full disclosure: there may have been some added zeal from the sounds of the horn quartet positioned on the second floor. This is the sort of place that makes you wish you could do your wedding over again. Having attended a reception at International Market Square, this place squashes IMS. The setup in the atrium is all central with no stairs to manipulate. The look is also (obviously) more historic and less modern.
I would love to attend another event here and will have to keep my eyes peeled for other excuses to head that way. I would highly recommend you do the same!

I was early for a meeting near Rice Park so I wandered into the Landmark Center. It looked like they were setting up for an event, so I just admired from the outer entrance where Anita’s Café is.
I’ve been here so many times for so many different events and it’s really one of the most gorgeous buildings in Minnesota. It’s quite a varied cultural center and there’s always something going on, whether it’s casual live music, Indian dance, Filipino Day, Irish Festival, etc. My high school had our senior prom here and it was a lot of fun for that too.
I was wondering how old the building was so I checked out the history page on their website and here’s the deal. It was born in 1902 and slowly mistreated by the government/​post office housed inside (i.e. «they painted over the marble walls with #102 government green, cut down wainscoting, covered the maple floors with brown linoleum, covered the marble mosaic with tile, replaced the antique metal lights with fluorescents, covered the skylight with asbestos, roofed/​painted over stained glass»). Then in the ‘70s, it was saved from being torn down and finally restored. This actually made me physically ill to read that someone had abused a building so incredibly wonderful. PHYSICALLY ILL. Often I think the 1950s-​1970s should be ashamed of themselves when it comes to architecture (like, the decades as a whole).
Anyway, back to the Landmark Center. Thank goodness someone came to the rescue and restored it back to what it is today — such an important cultural center, museum and literal landmark. It’s hard to imagine our city without it.
P. S. In my wedding venue search, it’s starting to become more appealing than ever since it’s large enough for our enormous families and they allow open catering. We’ll see though…

Such a beautiful building in downtown St. Paul.
I hadn’t been since my HS prom which was awhile ago. We were out enjoying the beautiful weather on Saturday and happened to wander in. There wasn’t a whole lot going on. The staff looked to be setting up for an event.
Wandered upstairs to use the restrooms which were nice and clean and thankfully open.
Looked at the Living La Vida: Mexican-​Americans in Ramsey County exhibit which reminded us a bit of the scene from Pee Wees Big Adventure when he goes to the Alamo looking for his bike sans the chipper tour guide.
Beautiful place and Im sure a great place to have a wedding reception or hold a prom.

I attended a dance at the Landmark Center, which was held in the The Musser Cortile (aka first floor atrium). There was ample space for the amount of people at the gather. They had an area for dancing, tables set up, as well as a dessert buffet. The building has amazing architecture. I like to explore new places and we were not allowed to venture to the upper floors. I was a little bummed, but still enjoyed admiring the architecture from the ground floor. The only thing I think was a little odd was the museum type «plaques» on the wall behind the bar… not quite the décor I picture for a formal event.

I used to go here as a child for cultural performances, and it was also a popular site for high school proms. It was good for that, and I’ve no doubt the other reviews here will tell you more about the free history fun available, which is great too.
However, this review is really for the square outside the Landmark Center, which I discovered is a great starting point for tourist activity in entertaining friends from out of town. It’s charming with a fountain and the Ordway and library right there. close enough to the outlook over the Mississippi river at the Science Museum to walk to, and has a few statues to start off a scavenger hunt for Peanuts character statues. Bonus points for photos with the statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Crucial useful item for a successful trip if you are entering downtown before 4:30 pm on a weekday: lots of quarters for parking meters (so old school! One star to the City for still using those). They don’t take anything but quarters –well, they take nickels and dimes, they just don’t count ‘em.

FREE KNOWLEDGE.
One of the volunteers looked at me funny for visiting on a perfectly sunny Sunday, but I couldn’t stand the nice weather any longer. It was nice to stroll through here quietly and take in some of the city history. The music section was crazy, and I was tempted to jam out on some of those instruments (no, i’m not musically gifted, I just have the mentality of a 4 year old). Every volunteer who I encountered during my trip to the Landmark Center was incredibly helpful and kind. As Melissa stated, it is a great place to stroll and learn. Even when you aren’t looking at a particular exhibit, it is nice to take in some of the architecture and enjoy a little history.

Fabulous place to stroll and learn about Saint Paul History. No admission fee!

This is a review of the Landmark Center, the building itself, which always has some kind of display of art open to the public, and free.
Today we wandered in because with Grand Olé Day happening, the city is frozen south of Grand Avenue, meaning I can’t get to my grocery store, gas station or any of the various establishments I visit on an errand filled weekend.
Not so the library, which is truly what brought us downtown (that and Meritage, whose lamb bacon I hear is fantastic. Unfortunately, they were closed for a private morrell mushroom event that sold out months ago.)
Once I dropped off my nearly overdue book, we wandered, mailed a letter in the Hamm bldg, and ventured over to the Landmark.
I have to say, the building is nice and empty, and has a self guided tour that leads you through every floor with plaques talking about who had offices there during the last century and half of its existence, including a beautifully detailed courtroom where James Hill was held on trial for anti trust violations 100 years ago or so.
Cool shit.