Lakota elder Jim Clairmont opened the ceremonies with a prayer.

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT) “interrupts” Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to stage a short history play about the former Sears site. In the first scene, “Once a Woods,” raccoon greets a woodland resident. The woods are eventually chopped down to begin to build a city.

Scene Two: European immigrants build homes and shops on Lake Street. Here, a baker offers muffins to the crowd.

Scene Three: Sears Roebuck breaks ground for a giant mail order and retail center, which opened in 1928 and operated for 66 years.

Scene Four: During the years between the closing of the Sears complex and the successful redevelopment as Midtown Exchange and Global Market, the site was occasionally the target of vandalism.

Public officials, including Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb and Metropolitan Council Chair Peter Bell (third and second from right, respectively) walked into the Midtown Global Market bearing banners that proclaimed the highlights of the redevelopment project.

Flag-bearers and large puppets crafted by HOBT led a procession of vendors from the market, who offered samples of their wares to the crowd.

Metro Transit employees spoke to visitors at the new Chicago Lake Transit Center, part of the Midtown Exchange redevelopment project.