NEW ULM, MN ‹ American Artstone Company, one of the leading Cast Stone producers in the country, is celebrating its 95th anniversary in business this year.  Founded in 1914, Artstone’s artisans manufacture unique, custom made architectural precast and cast stone concrete products for commercial buildings, building restorations, high-end residential applications and landscape projects.  The firm is most well known for artistic, ornate and decorative arches, columns, monuments, signs, bell towers, and other intricate and elegant shapes for buildings throughout the Midwest.  In addition they provide numerous profiles of sills, lintels, bands, copings and caps, as well as various size veneer and non-insulated panels.  Artstone operates from a 43,000 square foot manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art equipment, located in New Ulm, MN.   The old-fashioned craftsmanship used throughout the process, but particularly in building molds, makes the company’s one-of-a-kind products special. In recent years, Artstone has been the recipient of many awards for unique design and manufacturing quality. One such project was the restoration of the Winona County Courthouse, recognized by the Minnesota Preservation Alliance with a Minnesota Preservation Award.  Artstone was able to make concrete replicas of original carved stonework which had deteriorated over the years, including several gargoyles and medallions.  

Artstone, which employs 50, has provided architectural cast stone products for many familiar structures in the Twin Cites including; the Science Museum of Minnesota, Como Park Conservatory, the Ramsey County Government Center, St. Thomas University’s science buildings in St. Paul and law school in Minneapolis, numerous University of Minnesota buildings, and downtown Minneapolis’ WCCO-TV headquarters and Renaissance Square. Other notable projects Artstone has completed in outstate Minnesota include the Clayton Jackson McGhee Memorial and the Clock Tower in Duluth’s Canal Park District and several Mayo Clinic buildings and signs in Rochester.  When the new University of Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium opens for the 2009 football season, Artstone products will be prominently displayed throughout the exterior of the stadium, including; eighty-seven county signs, thirty-eight ten foot diameter arches, three twenty-eight foot diameter arches and two forty-two foot diameter arches, numerous perimeter base panels and sidewall panels at entrance stairways, signs and the Veteran’s Tribute.