Designer Selection Board begins interviews for University of Minnesota's Moose Tower renovation

The State Designer Selection Board on May 26, 2026, approved the day's agenda and an amended set of minutes and began the interview process for Project 2602, the Moose Tower renovation at the University of Minnesota.

The board chair summarized the interview format, saying the panel "is going to interview 3 finalists. Each will make a 20 minute presentation followed by 20 minutes of Q and A by the board and the university." The board said it will allow brief interruptions during presentations for finalists to set up and test equipment.

The board approved the agenda on a motion moved by Ted Tucker and seconded by Susan Estes; the approval was by voice vote. Later the board approved the minutes as amended to strike item 5, which concerned officer elections; the chair said officer votes are required at the first meeting after June 30 "by statute." The motion to approve the amended minutes was moved by Steve Madrow and seconded by Ted Tucker; the board approved the amendment by voice vote.

A board member briefly dropped off the meeting during roll call and rejoined; when asked whether he had any contact with finalists since the last meeting, the participant stated he had not had contact with the applicants. The board did not record any further details about contacts with applicants in the meeting record.

The chair noted the interviews were scheduled to begin with the DLR team; the group was setting up and the chair asked staff to pause the recording and invite the team to start. The board indicated it would proceed through the three scheduled finalist interviews, taking short breaks as needed for equipment setup.

The next public action for this project is the interview of the first finalist (DLR), which the board invited to begin during the meeting.