About the Building

 

 

From There to Here

Patrick's Cabaret originally started in 1986 in the gymnasium of the St Stephen's Catholic Church located at 2211 Clinton Avenue in South Minneapolis. Once a month Patrick Scully and his friends who were dancers, singers, actors, musicians, writers and performance artists put on a cabaret show. A few years later Patrick moved these events to his large store front loft at 506 East 24th Street. When the Minneapolis zoning department cited Patrick with several fire code violations in 1997, it became apparent that Patrick's Cabaret would have to leave the 24th Street space. For a short time Patrick's Cabaret shows took place sporadically in various spaces that could be rented at affordable prices or for free, in the midst of a groundswell of grassroots support. Around this time a "Fairy Godmother" entered the scene and offered to buy a building to house Patrick's Cabaret. In 1999 the Fairy Godmother purchased the 1894 Firehouse which Patrick's Cabaret now occupies.

The Fire House

In the 1890's, fire engines where basically large wagons, pulled by a team of horses, that transported firemen, hoses and fire equipment. The front windows of the firehouse building at that time were very large doors from which the horses pulled the fire wagons out of the building (the original cobblestone ramp to the street is still visible in the front window's interior). A bell tower, on top of the building and now minus the bell, would alert the firemen of a fire. The Minneapolis Fire Department occupied the building until the 1960's. In those crazy days of the decade, an avant garde theater group called The Firehouse Theater moved into the building. Several years later an actual fire destroyed the furniture store adjacent to the Firehouse Theater, and the theater group was forced to move out so the Minnehaha Furniture store could occupy the space. Still later Airport Taxi and Delivery moved into the second floor of the building.

Renovating the Firehouse

When Patrick's Cabaret moved into building in 1999, the space was very much a diamond in the rough. We knew there was a gem under the dirt and grime, but it would take a lot of money, a tremendous amount of work and even more patience to bring out the true character of the building. The first thing to go was the filthy avocado green indoor/outdoor carpeting covering the theater floor. This revealed the original firehouse floor made of 12-inch wide oak planks. The impressions of the horses shoes were still visible in the wood. But clearly this worn, warped and splintered floor would never work for dancers' tender feet. However, a wealthy benefactor was kind enough to donate $15,000 to Patrick's Cabaret to install a beautiful sprung maple floor.

The walls in the theater at that time were pegboard painted a drab grey, and the ceiling was made of suspended acoustic tiles. During the summer of 1999, Artistic Director Patrick Scully and Building Maintenance man Mark Bautch removed the tile ceiling, revealing the duct work and wooden floor joists of the second floor. The exposed wooden joists are great for reverberating acoustic sounds. On the second floor dark, fake walnut paneled walls, red indoor/outdoor carpeting and oddly shaped offices created a claustrophobic feeling. The enormous amount of clutter and debris left by the taxi company when they vacated the building didn't help either. It took almost a year to get rid of all the junk, prime the walls white and remove all the carpeting, tacks and nails in the floor. This made the offices feel a bit more open and friendly. At about this time Load Bearing Inc., a construction contractor, moved into the building, providing Patrick's Cabaret with a wealth of resources, information and services for all our renovation needs.

From 2001 to 2006 minor changes were made to maintain the building. But always in the back of Patrick's mind was a facelift of the theater which would stamp the signature of Patrick's Cabaret on the building. In 2006 we began to make the changes to the theater in hopes that everyone who enters the space has a feeling of both surprise and delight, making it warmer and more welcoming.

The pegboard walls were removed exposing bright red flocked wall paper that the Firehouse Theater must have used in their entrance lobby. Under the wallpaper, and several coats of paint, the original plaster and brick walls were revealed. But the plaster was damaged from cement nails used to attached the pegboard. Thousands of holes needed to be patched, then the walls were sanded and primed and finally the "off-kilter-fun-house" motif that now extends from the theater into the lobby.

..:{ 2006 Renovations Photo Gallery }:..    {opens a new window}

Thanks to the Fairy Godmother, 2008 brought major changes to the exterior of the building. First all paint was removed from the bricks. Then all mortar joints between the bricks were ground in and tuck pointed, along with all cracked or damaged bricks being removed and replaced. On the front facade, the iron railing above the front window was removed, sandblasted, re-welded, then reattached to the newly rebuilt wooden facade. The Patrick's Cabaret sign was removed revealing a long hidden and very damaged window which is now replaced with a new window that matches the existing restored windows. Eventually new signage, and perhaps a marquee, will be placed on the front and sides of the building. Solar panels are being installed on the back section of the building. These will provide some power to our entire building, definitely bringing down our electrical costs and greening up the world.