City Hall challenge

Now that 95 candidates have filed for office in Minneapolis and the Star Tribune has mailed them issue-heavy questionnaires, let's break for a little fun. Just how well do the 11 mayoral candidates know their way around City Hall?

The Dateline Minneapolis trivia test was designed to test knowledge of the green-roofed Romanesque building that holds our seat of Minneapolis government. We grilled the candidates on what part of the Father of Waters statue is rubbed for good luck, quizzed them on City Hall's last execution, and inquired about which hardware was most often stolen in the building's early days.

As expected, incumbent Mayor R.T. Rybak, who has worked in the building for the past eight years and also spent time there as a reporter and downtown booster, breezed through many of the questions. But Dick Franson also spent substantial time around the building in his 15 years as a public employee, including time as an alderman. Dateline has also spotted candidates Al Flowers, Papa John Kolstad and Bill McGaughey in the building in the last couple of years. We reached all but two candidates. Kolstad, who later told us he's not a morning person, rejected our inquiries as a gotcha, saying he's running a serious race.

What do you call the building?

There's no one right answer here. It's most commonly called City Hall. But Jose Cervantes, who runs the building's staff, tells us that older people often call it the courthouse, remembering the days before 1975, when most courts moved to the new Hennepin County Government Center. The city-county board that oversees the building has a compromise name: it's the Municipal Building Commission.

That commission plans soon to etch the name over the 4th Street doors as it appeared in architectural drawings: "Courthouse 1891 City Hall." Just as there's no one right answer for the name, the commission could have picked from a number of years to etch, given that the building was built between 1887 and 1906. It chose the year that the cornerstone was laid.

How much of City Hall is owned by the city?

The building was built 50-50 by the city and county, and that's still the ownership split. Candidate guesses ranged from Franson's 25 percent to the 100 percent guess by four of the eight candidates. "I thought taxpayers owned City Hall," opined Flowers. OK, Al, we'll send you the bill.

How much of City Hall is occupied by the city?

The city takes up 60 percent of City Hall's space. But the guesses ranged from Franson's 10 percent to Tom Fiske's 100 percent. Much of the county space is occupied by the Sheriff's Department and the jail it operates.

One-term Alderman Eddie Felien, who served in the 1970s, is best remembered for what proposal?

We thought this question would be right up Fiske's alley as the Socialist Workers Party candidate. But nobody got it right. Only one hazarded a guess -- Franson gave Felien, now editor-publisher of Southside Pride, undue credit as the founder of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. Felien proposed a feasibility study for the municipalization of Northern States Power Co., the predecessor of Xcel Energy for you youngsters.

NRP, NSP -- maybe Franson deserves partial credit for being off by only one letter.

What part of the Father of Waters statue is rubbed for good luck by those entering City Hall?

This is Dateline's favorite bit of City Hall lore. John Charles Wilson guessed the forehead. Christopher Clark guessed the belly. Bob Carney Jr. was close, guessing the feet. "They're about the only thing you can reach," he reasoned.

But it's the toe. Rybak and Franson not only knew, but knew which one -- the left. "I rubbed that every time I had a hot proposal when I was on the City Council," Franson recalled. "I rub it all the time," Rybak added, "and it's been a pretty lucky place." Flowers said he could use the info: "We haven't been having nothing but bad luck. If there's a good luck part of it, let me know."

Which city originally commissioned the statue?

The guesses here ranged from Franson's Rome to Wilson and Clark's St. Paul to James R. Everett's Duluth. Only Rybak had the right answer -- New Orleans. That city commissioned the statue, but when it was unable to come up with the money, leading citizens from Minneapolis swooped in and bought it for a reputed $40,000. That explains the alligator under the big guy's legs.

What piece of hardware kept disappearing during the early days after City Hall opened?

Clark guessed shovels. Franson was the most inventive, guessing the key to the city. But Wilson and Rybak nailed it -- the doorknobs. The brass items featured an "MCH" for Minneapolis City Hall and "H Co" for Hennepin County, and apparently they became illicit keepsakes. You can still spot knobs around the building that survived the wave of pilfering.

True or false? The electrocution of a notorious gang member was the only execution ever to take place in City Hall.

Three candidates, Everett, Wilson and Rybak, got this one right. The correct answer to this trick question is false. John Moshik was the first and last person executed in City Hall, but his death in 1898 was by hanging, not electrocution. Some say his ghost still haunts the building.

Which of the following didn't rent space in City Hall during its early days: a blacksmith, a newspaper, a stable, a wool brokerage or a chicken hatchery?

Carney was the only candidate to get this one right: a newspaper office. The hatchery was the most common wrong guess, chosen by four of eight candidates.

That's the quiz. Behind Rybak, Wilson ranked next best among the candidates at knowing his way around City Hall with three correct answers.

If you want to brush up on your knowledge of this municipal monument, you may take a guided tour of the building. Just show up at the Father of Waters statue off the S. 4th Street entrance at noon on the third Wednesday of the month, or call 612-596-9535 at least two weeks in advance to arrange a tour at another time.

Or you may take a self-guided tour by picking up a brochure at the security desk right near the statue's big toe.

And if you're a candidate, give that toe a rub.

sbrandt@startribune.com • 612-673-4438