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Minnesota State Law Library

History of the Minnesota Judicial Center

Groundbreaking and Cornerstone Ceremonies

The groundbreaking ceremony took place March 29, 1988. The cornerstone laying ceremony took place October 26, 1988 and was the last formal responsibility of Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl before his retirement. The speech he delivered and the list of items included in the cornerstone are below.

Construction & Groundbreaking Ceremony

Program from groundbreaking ceremony March 29,1988

Groundbreaking program

Ground-breaking ceremony March 29,1988

Group of people with hardhats overlooking construction area

Douglas Amdahl speaking during the ground-breaking ceremony, March 29,1988

Man in trench coat at a podium in front of a crowd under a tent

Group of people attending ground-breaking ceremony, March 29, 1988

Crowd of people under a tent with a row of hard hats in front

Ceremonial shovel belonging to Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl

The shovel is kept in a glass display case in the Judicial Center in the hallway outside the State Law Library.

Shovel with writing on the spade

Close up of Chief Justice Amdahl's ceremonial shovel from the ground-breaking ceremony

close up of golden shovel spade with seal of Minnesota

Cornerstone Ceremony Program October 26, 1988

Cornerstone Laying Ceremony for Minnesota Judicial Center, October 26, 1988

Speech given by Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl, included in the volume The Judicial Career of Douglas K. Amdahl, vol. 3

Image of text of speech

List of items included in the cornerstone

List of items included in the cornerstone