Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a highly intact example of mid-century modern architecture, with the longtime community meeting place carrying memories for many locals from baptism to burial.

Parishioner Maureen Sanford headed the volunteer effort to pursue the federal listing, applying for state grant funds for the application. The submission was made possible through a grant funded by a state appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

“I think it’s really a feather in the cap for our community,” Sanford said.

A longtime South St. Paul resident, Sanford was baptized in the church and also married there. Her parents, aunts and uncles are buried at nearby General Lutheran Cemetery down the street. She said the architectural significance of the building, and that sense of community, is why she pursued the listing for Luther Memorial.

The church, located at 315 15th Ave. N., was built in two stages, in 1956 and 1964. The latter construction became the period of significance, according to research commissioned by Andrea C. Pizza, owner of Deco Cultural Services and author of the National Register nomination.

Specifically, the church was so named to the National Register as an example of mid-century modern, post-World War II era suburban church construction.

Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

Passersby can witness this from the outside through the large, angled precast concrete panels bordering the sanctuary, and the curvature of the exterior brick wall along the front of the church.

On the inside, the general design and unique stained-glass windows were particular points of mention in the National Register submission.

Time portal

Much of the church is original and true to its 1964 construction. Taking a stroll through the building’s wood-lined offices feels like walking through a time portal to decades ago.

Luther Memorial Church was formed in 1953, as a merger of St. Paulus Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, as those congregations began in 1892 and 1928, respectively. The new and growing congregation needed an updated building to accommodate more than 1,000 members, according to Pizza’s research, and as planning stages for new construction continued, church member Awalt Schmidt donated land along 15th Avenue North and Third Street North, with the remainder purchased from the city of South St. Paul.

The sun shines through a stained glass window at Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

Characteristic of this era, churches at the time were attempting to design spaces that would be more inviting, more welcoming, than the Gothic architecture that had long preceded the period. The design called for the sanctuary and chancel areas to be more open to the parish. Within the sanctuary are floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, with specific themes expressed within each set of stacked panels.

The themes include public service, labor, commerce, communications, healing arts and education, as well as windows for food production that include an animal carcass signifying the South St. Paul stockyards.

For many inner-ring suburbs, these buildings from the past are lost over time, Pizza said, as societal changes and redevelopment efforts take their place.

“I think it’s important to recognize these places so that we can find out more about our communities. It gives communities a sense of place,” Pizza said. “South St. Paul has lost a lot of its historical buildings, so there are fewer buildings to convey the city’s past.”

When a building like Luther is recognized for its history, that opens an opportunity to discuss and learn, Pizza said: “It opens up an avenue for people to say ‘Why?’ and an opportunity to learn things about a property, or historical topics, that they didn’t know before.”

Community-minded mission

While the construction is historically significant, parishioners and clergy alike are quick to mention that the larger significance of the church exists not just in the surroundings of the pews, but the people who fill them.

“We have a real sense of community,” Sanford said. “It’s a family. If I was sick, I know someone there is going to bring me a meal. And vice-versa.”

Today, Luther Memorial Church counts about 400 members, the Rev. Patrick Joiner said. Church membership has fallen over the past 40 years, a trend that many churches have been dealing with.

For Luther Memorial, Joiner said there has been a stepped-up focus over the last decade to engage with the greater community. Those efforts have included holiday events, civic celebrations and school district collaborations outside of the church walls.

People gather for services at Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

When Joiner is in the sanctuary, he said the stained-glass windows and their imagery bring to mind that community-minded mission.

“The windows allow light through into the parish, but they also allow us to see our community,” Joiner said. “That is a significant thing for us.”

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Celebrate Luther Memorial History

What: Luther Memorial Church will host a luncheon celebrating the church’s listing in the National Register of Historic Places following worship on Sunday, Oct. 12.

When: 10 a.m. worship and presentation; 11 a.m. luncheon, Sunday, Oct. 12

Where: Luther Memorial Church, 315 15th Ave. N., South St. Paul

More information: 651-451-2400

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday on his social media site that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China has restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry.

Trump suggested that he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves.

“One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

Athan Kaliakmanis was marshaling the Rutgers offense toward the Gophers’ student section in the fourth quarter of the Sept. 27 game at Huntington Bank Stadium.

In his return to Minnesota, the former Gophers quarterback had the Knights pointed toward the same group of fans he taunted after throwing a second-quarter touchdown pass.

A perfect scene for revenge was set.

Facing a second and 10 from Minnesota’s 26, fans at Huntington Bank Stadium got louder. Amid the din, Kaliakmanis tried to change the play at the line of scrimmage. Not everyone was got the memo.

The center snapped the ball to an unsuspecting Kaliakmanis. It went between his legs and the senior scrambled to recover it for a 15-yard loss. With field position ruined, a 56-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left sailed wide and the Gophers won, 31-28.

“That felt like a night game against the top five team in the country-type atmosphere in terms of how loud it was,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said. “I can’t thank our fans enough. That’s the home-field advantage that you want to create for your team.”

The student section has been the driving force in the stadium’s less-than-capacity crowds. The Gophers have increased the amount of student season tickets sold from under 6,000 in 2017 — Fleck’s first year — to more than 8,000 this season.

“Huge jump,” Mike Wierzbicki, deputy athletics director, told the Pioneer Press. “It’s not just season tickets. Many more students coming on a single-game basis. We can generally get up to about 10,000 in there. For most games, we’re hitting that number or we’re getting very close to it.

“You go back to (2016), ’17, ’18, we were rarely getting anywhere close to that,” he added. “So there’s no doubt: what (Fleck’s) seeing and feeling is accurate in the data.”

The uptick in student attendance really ticked up post-pandemic and fans returned to the venue for the 2021 season.

“I think part of that is just students wanted to come back together,” Wierzbicki said.

Keeping ‘em

Fleck credited Wierzbicki and his staff for boosting the game-day environment. Wierzbicki, in turn, credited Mills Armbruster, the U’s assistant AD for marketing, as well as campus partnerships with the Office of Student Affairs and Fraternity and Sorority Life.

The Gophers want students in the stadium early — which, again, they do better than the general fan base. The U tries to entice students with giveaways such as the rally towel at the Rutgers win and the upcoming “Row” hats for the Nebraska game next Friday.

“We’ve done different things that I think students see value in,” Wierzbicki said. “It leads to attendance. … They’re still 18- to 22-year-old kids, whether it’s this cool hat or this towel.”

It’s not just coming early that matters, but more so staying late and not heading out to, say, that big Saturday night party.

Before the pandemic, the Gophers, with the help of an autonomous donor, started a Row The Boat scholarship giveaway. The first 5,000 students at each home game receive a cardboard oar and two $1,000 scholarships are given away in the fourth quarter.

“It’s not just coming to games,” Wierzbicki said. “It’s staying for games, staying engaged.”

Head coach PJ Fleck leads the Gophers onto the field at Huntington Bank Stadium in front of a packed student section ahead of the Gophers’ season opener against Buffalo on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (Brace Hemmelgarn / Gopher Athletics)

‘Letting it rip’

The night before each home game, the Gophers stay in a suburban hotel and travel to the stadium via coach busses. Along University Avenue, they pass the frat row.

“I really, really love our student body,” Fleck said. “I mean, our student section has improved so much since Day One. I can’t thank them enough. This is what college is all about. It’s what the student experience is all about, coming to football games in the fall. It’s tailgating.”

Hours before the Gophers’ 11 a.m. kickoff against Rutgers, Fleck and players could see fans’ pregame routines on the frat’s front lawns and porches.

“They are lettin’ it rip; that’s for sure,” Fleck said. “This was eight in the morning. I can’t imagine what they were like at night.”

The Gophers hope everyone in attendance Saturday is tuned up the homecoming game against Purdue kicking off 6:30 p.m. The U is encouraging fans to “stripe out” the stadium in maroon and gold.

12th man

Gophers defensive coordinator Danny Collins called the crowd at the Rutgers game “a major factor” in the thrilling win. Wierzbicki said they didn’t have an official decibel level to gauge how loud they truly got.

“They are a part of us,” Collins said Wednesday. “They are a part of that defense. I know the (players) love it and they feed off that energy, as well. They were huge in that moment (versus Rutgers) and (we) can’t thank our crowd enough. That is tremendous.”

During pregame warmups, Gophers starting linebacker Maverick Baranowski likes to engage with two fans in particular in the student section.

“They’re always like, ‘Hey, what up, Mav?’ ” Baranowski relayed. “I squirt ‘em with a water bottle. They’re always juiced up, fired up. It gets us juiced up, as well. A fun little tradition.”

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Councilmembers and unions on one side, housers and the Charter Commission on the other. Two sides of the debate over new ballot measures have different ideas of how to secure affordable housing in New York.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, union members and lawmakers at a press conference on the housing-related ballot proposals Tuesday. (William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)

The fight over housing-related measures on New Yorkers’ general election ballot is heating up with under four weeks until Election Day.

Tuesday, City Council leaders rallied with influential labor unions against ballot measures two, three, and four, which would “fast track” affordable housing in certain neighborhoods, reduce public review of modest housing projects, and establish an appeals board that could override Council decisions on income-restricted development.

Supporters of the ballot measures argue hey will help get affordable housing built in New York faster. The City Council says that the measures will undermine its role in the land use process, which lawmakers say helps them secure critical benefits for their districts.

The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, building workers union 32BJ SEIU, and the District Council of Carpenters argued those agreements also help them get new members and secure benefits.

“We all know we are in a housing crisis. We support housing. But these ballot proposals aim to exploit New Yorkers’ real concern and hide what they actually do. The proposals would move decision power away from those that are closest to the community,” said 32BJ president Manny Pastreich in a press conference Monday.

Simultaneously, a group formed in September to support the measures, “YES on Affordable Housing,” raised $3 million, according to the New York Times.

Public figures like Comptroller Brad Lander, incoming Comptroller Mark Levine, Brooklyn Borough President Antionio Reynoso and others have signaled their support for the ballot measures, which they argue will make it easier and faster to produce affordable housing.

The Charter Commission is also fighting two lawsuits, one led by conservative City Council members and another from the City Club of New York. Last month, the Council attempted to get the measures thrown off the ballot by appealing to the Board of Elections that they were misleading. The board declined.

Here’s what else happened in housing this week —

ICYMI, from City Limits:

For the first time, housing code violations issued by the city at NYCHA properties are now publicly available—what advocates say is a win for transparency, giving public housing residents information about their buildings that tenants in privately-owned properties have long had access to.

Environmental groups are pressing Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would eliminate the 100-foot rule, which requires utility companies add new gas hookups at any building within 100 feet of an existing gas line. They argue the rule keeps New York hooked on fossil fuel infrastructure while passing on the costs to residents via ever-increasing home energy bills.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

New York Democrats are rallying around Tish James in the wake of what they say is a politically motivated indictment by the Trump administration, which accuses the attorney general of fraud related to a mortgage for a home she bought in Virginia. “What we’re seeing today is nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said, according to Politico.

An update on the four downstate casino proposals still standing, via The City.

The Adams administration’s proposal to rezone more than 200 blocks in downtown Jamaica to spur more housing passed two Council committee votes this week, now with a lower target on the number of new units, and more funding for community groups, the Queens Eagle reports.

A newly passed bill will require New York City homeless shelters to disclose when they lack air conditioning, according to Gothamist.

A “housing league” formed by local elected officials last year has been working behind the scenes to “support a pro-housing agenda,” The Real Deal reports.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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