Gateway Center

Gateway Center is near Hennepin and Washington aves. Originally a staging area from which pioneers departed for the American Northwest in the late 19th century—hence its name—this district became part of a massive urban renewal project in the 1950s. The jets of water gushing from the Gateway Fountain, in Gateway Park at N. 2nd Street and Hennepin Avenue, are illuminated nightly with rotating patterns of colored lights.