If you’re planning a trip to the Twin Cities and want to dine at the famed “Mary Tyler Moore table” from the show’s opening theme, you’d better not wait too long. All these years later, the table is still there, at Basil’s Restaurant overlooking the Crystal Court in the I-D-S Center, in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. But Marquette Hotel Sales and Marketing Director John Wright says a major renovation is under way and that area will soon become an executive lounge for hotel guests. He says the famous table will be removed and the space re-named the Mary Tyler Moore Terrace. It looks like non-hotel guests will only be allowed in for part of the day.
There’s been much renewed interest in the table since the TV icon’s death earlier this week. And admirers have also been leaving flowers at the base of the famous statue showing Tyler Moore tossing her hat into the air. The statue was at the corner of 7th and Nicollet, where the scene was shot, but has been temporarily moved two blocks away to the Meet Minneapolis store, while the Nicollet Mall is being renovated.