Red Barn Protest
Information and excerpts have been taken from the research by University of Minnesota students for the 2006 Bob Dylan Exhibit in the Weisman Art Museum to provide you with a comprehensive look at the Red Barn Protest.  Special thanks to….

On March 1, 1970 five businesses, The Christian Science Reading Room, Lou’s Diner, Campus Jewelry, Solon’s Shoe Store, and Coed Beauty Salon, received 30 day eviction notices.  The building their shops resided in was to be demolished to make way for a new Red Barn fast-food restaurant.  Robert Lafferty, the Twin Cities Red Barn Vice president, already owned 5 Red Barn Restaurants in Minnesota, one of them being in Stadium Village, and planned on opening a sixth in Dinkytown.  What he hadn’t planned on was the opposition that would rise to keep him out.  Students and community members joined together against the building of a Red Barn in Dinkytown which they claimed would destroy the atmosphere and continuity of Dinkytown. 

The students took up residence in the vacated businesses and named their space the “People’s Hotel.”  However, the police later forcefully removed them for the demolition. 

A day after the raid, 40 southeast Minneapolis residents filed a class action suit temporarily restraining any construction of a Red Barn restaurant.  The trial began June 1 with accusations made that the wrecking permit issued to the antler construction company, who demolished the building, was void and the restaurant was in violation of the area’s zoning ordinances.  Ten days later the trial for the 38 protesters arrested on May 6th raid ended with 14 occupiers acquitted due to insufficient evidence, 20 pleaded guilty, three were juveniles, and one was AWOL from the army and faced trial in another court. 

On July 24 the lawsuit against Red Barn was dismissed, lifting the temporary injunction and giving Red Barn the legal authority to build in Dinkytown.
Due to the incredible opposition towards the Red Barn Company, in August 1971 Robert Lafferty decided to relinquish plans to build a Red Barn restaurant in Dinkytown, despite a months-long fight for ability to do so.

Left with a vacant lot, the students planted and created the Peace Garden depicted in the mural by the bright sun, immense and colorful flowers, gardeners and abundant peace signs in the alley between Camdi's and The Steak Knife on 4th street.

The Red Barn Protest demonstrated the power that community members and students had over their lives and their environment during a time when they felt powerless.  The physical, tangible presence of the building, and then later the People’s Park, gave the protesters a more personal connection to the issue and allowed them to identify, specifically, the opposition.  The Red barn incident was also unique in the way that community members, students, and law enforcement worked together to allow a mostly peaceful protest.