5930 Brooklyn Boulevard, Minneapolis, MN 55429 | (763) 843-0420
Brooklyn Center
5930 Brooklyn Boulevard
Minneapolis, MN 55429
P: 763-843-0420
F: 763-843-0421
E: bkbm@bkbm.com

Relocation of the Historic Shubert Theater

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Structural Integrity Analysis

Almost ninety years after it opened, the Shubert Theater sat as the lone building on a block slated for total redevelopment. When all efforts failed to renovate this landmark, and to incorporate it into the new plans for the area, the city planners approved an exciting proposal to move the seven-story, 80-foot by 80-foot concrete and masonry building to a new location on Hennepin Avenue.

BKBM Professional Engineers was retained the Minneapolis Community Development Agency to prepare a feasibility study for the Shubert Theater. That study included a condition survey of the structural integrity of the theater. To investigate the unique characteristics of the existing structure, BKBM used the impact-echo method of nondestructive testing for concrete and masonry.

The information obtained from this testing was used in the preparation to relocate the 5,816,000 pound building. The undertaking is now recorded as the Guinness Book of World Records largest building moved on rubber-wheeled dollies.