Council ponders historic status for part of Dinkytown

A Minneapolis City Council committee has voted to designate part of a commercial area near the University of Minnesota as an official historic district.

The designation would make it more difficult for owners of Dinkytown buildings built before 1930 to tear them down or alter their facades.

Preservationists wanted to see those protections extended to a larger area, including buildings from the early 1970s. They argue those structures were significant landmarks during the folk-music revival and Vietnam War-era protests.

But Council Member Jacob Frey, who represents Dinkytown, questions whether nostalgia for the '60s and '70s is a good reason to preserve architecture from that era.

"The critical time period for every individual is different and tends to coincide with the time in their lives when they were having fun, dating someone hot, smoking, staying up late," he said. "That's not history. That's college."

The full City Council will vote on the proposed historic district next month.