Northrop Memorial Auditorium

You’ve probably heard of Northrop Auditorium before, right? Even if this is your first time at the University of Minnesota, you’ve likely heard the name floating around campus. It’s a landmark, a center for culture, and an architectural marvel. Northrop has stood in the heart of the University of Minnesota, on the East Bank, for almost a century. Dedicated to Cyrus Northrop, the university’s second president, the grand building opened in 1929, a cornerstone of a major university expansion project. To this day, it’s a treasured venue for concerts, lectures, and even important university events. Northrop has seen it all, including world-renowned performers. The Minnesota Orchestra once called it home. The Beatles haven’t graced its stage, but it’s been a backdrop for famous musicians like Bob Dylan and Prince, and it’s housed a giant pipe organ, the largest in the Upper Midwest.
This isn’t just a place for showstoppers though. You could say Northrop was built to be a space for stories. The tales of a former stage manager who may still linger, of students raising enough money to build it in the 1920s, even of the 1990 B-52’s concert that ended with a chunk of the ceiling falling. That’s the thing about old buildings. The stories are so much more than just bricks and mortar. They’re woven into the very fabric of the space.
So step inside. Take a moment to look around. Listen to the echoes, the faint whispers. What do they tell of what was, what is, and what will be? Because Northrop, nestled in the heart of campus, will continue to tell its stories for another century to come.