Minneapolis and Hennepin County spent $678,175 to replace City Hall's flagpole and perform related roof and tower work, with the flagpole itself accounting for about $309,000 of that total. The original pole, installed in 1950, had been rotting and rusting from the inside for years, and officials eventually determined it posed a hazard that could have caused it to detach from the building.
What the Money Actually Paid For
According to the Star Tribune, the $678,175 figure covered far more than just the pole: replacement of the 13th-floor roof, removal and repair of 12th-floor ceiling tiles inside the tower, and removal of old antennas and satellite dishes that had been mounted near the flagpole. Isolating just the flagpole swap, the newspaper reports that cost came to roughly $309,000. The project was complex, the report notes, because of City Hall's roof location and its angular design, which made access difficult for crews.
Getting the job done required shutting down a chunk of downtown traffic. Workers blocked off Fourth Street for six days during the work, relying on a hydraulic crane capable of stretching 480 feet to reach the tower, per the same report. The scale of that closure underscores just how awkward the old rooftop setup had become for routine maintenance.
A Modern Upgrade for a 1950s Problem
The new flagpole is made of aluminum and, unlike its predecessor, can be raised and lowered without requiring physical access to the roof. That is a notable shift from the old system, under which employees had to pull the rope and flag into the building by hand — a manual process that had been in place since the original pole went up in 1950.
The flagpole work is part of a broader push to fix up Minneapolis City Hall's exterior, a project the city and county have spent nearly $17 million on since 2020, the Star Tribune reports. That spending is distinct from a separate $29 million interior renovation completed in October 2025 that reshaped 93,000 square feet across the building's second, third and fourth floors with new HVAC systems, offices, meeting rooms and restrooms, according to Finance & Commerce. The building itself, a 345-foot rose granite clock tower built in Richardsonian-Romanesque style, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974, per that same account.
Who Decides How the Money Gets Split
The cost of the flagpole project is shared by the city and Hennepin County, since the historic building is jointly overseen. The Municipal Building Commission, which maintains both City Hall and the Hennepin County Courthouse, is made up of two county commission representatives and two city representatives, including Mayor Jacob Frey, the Star Tribune notes. Meeting minutes from the commission's April 22, 2026 session list those present as Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, Frey, Minneapolis City Council Member Aisha Chughtai and Hennepin County Commissioner Marion Greene, according to records posted by the Municipal Building Commission.
Separately, a Fight Over Police Travel Funds
City Hall's rooftop spending wasn't the only budget question working its way through council chambers recently. The council also debated whether city funds should pay for eight police leaders to travel to Florida to honor Inspector Ryan Kelly, who the International Association of Chiefs of Police nominated for Police Officer of the Year after he responded to the Annunciation Catholic Church school mass shooting, the Star Tribune reports.
The Minneapolis Police Foundation initially offered a $16,000 donation to cover Kelly's own travel, but the police department then proposed that the city separately spend nearly $14,000 so eight additional officers could also attend the Orlando event. Some council members pushed back, citing the department's overspending and the prospect of senior officers being away for a week all at once, per the same report. The foundation ultimately agreed to cover the full travel cost for all of the officers, plus the Major Cities Chiefs Association Conference preceding the award ceremony. Elizabeth Shaffer said supporting the department in moments like these can improve morale and reinforce the kind of department the city wants, according to the Star Tribune's account.
A Separate Mix-Up at the Dais
In an unrelated wrinkle from recent council business, Council Member Elliott Payne mistakenly called Aurin Chowdhury by Council Member Aisha Chughtai's name during an October 15 meeting and later apologized to Chowdhury. Days earlier, on October 13, Council Member Robin Wonsley had also mistakenly addressed Chowdhury as Chughtai during a committee meeting, the Star Tribune reports. Chowdhury said council members need to do better about confusing her name with Chughtai's, even as the two once dressed as each other for Halloween to make light of the repeated mix-ups.
