Twin Cities Buildings That Were Never Built

"The African American Cultural Centre was designed to be an artistic landmark. Distinctive features — including a funky circular roof — would set the building apart from existing structures in downtown Minneapolis and bring a taste of African design to the heart of the Midwest. There was only one problem: It was never built.The center, designed in 1976 by Minneapolis-based design firm Bentz/Thompson/Rietow, is an example of 'paper projects' that never made the transition from drawing board sketch pads to brick-and-mortar construction. More often than not, those ill-fated designs are stashed away in a drawer (or on a computer hard drive), never again to see the light of day. But Bentz/Thompson/Rietow is paying homage to some of its phantom projects with a special section on the firm's Web site."