A redesign has transformed the Vandalia Tower building into one of the more desirable retail and office locations in St. Paul. Located at the corners of Vandalia Street and Wabash Avenue, in what was once the old King Koil Mattress factory, fresh ideas, visions, and new life have been breathed into this historic building.
OMG Studios, one of the Tower’s newest tenants, is a large part of that transformation. It shares space with a community theater, event venue, photo studio, film studio, brewery, distillery, cannabis dispensary, coffee shop, and more.
On Feb. 1, the studio held its grand opening as the crowd for this invite-only event stood in anticipation. The music of Thomasina Petrus and Thomas West filled the room as guests conversed throughout the new studio.
Monique Linder, founder and CEO, spoke about the studio and thanked everyone who helped make it a reality. As Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter crossed the floor, Linder stood, waiting in anticipation for the ribbon cutting for OMG Studios, along with Councilwoman Mitra Jalali and Chad Kulas, executive director of the Midway Chamber of Commerce.
Linder then organized tours of the studio for attendees. The OMG layout offers three different studios. Studio A includes a green room, sound lounge and recording studio, and comes with a sound engineer. Studio B is for podcasts. Studio C is a creative space.
The studio retains historic features from the old mattress factory since it is on the National Register of Historic Places. This caused a forced merging of the old style with the new: the new technology of LED lighting and sound booths, and the feeling the aged building provides with the old wood paneling. The thick doors to the studios, which were taken from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’s old studio, were just one of the many touches that enhanced the vibes of the studio.
This new venue became home to two OMG Media Solutions companies: OMG Studios and KZMO HD. It also houses Innovation Lab, a youth music and art development program with seven community partners—MN Humanities, Ujamaa Place, City of St. Paul, Black MN Collective, MN Arts Council, Minneapolis Foundation, and Live4Love Charities.
OMG Studios is located at 550 Vandalia Street, Suite 220B. Visit them on the web at omgmediasolutions.com.
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