The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

By summer, the hulking, multi-ton blade sharpening machines of Printers Service Inc. will be gone, hauled out through the big front windows of 716 Washington Avenue North. For more than half a century, Ken Springer has run his business here, with the help of various employees who tend to stick around like family, and his sons, Wayne and Keith. The shop is a throwback to a time when people and machines interacted in a way that didn’t include a keyboard. It’s grimy, too. The sharpeners are constantly lubricated with a fine mist of oil, which coats everything not encased in plastic or stashed under a cardboard box. The Washington Avenue Business Center, which for decades has housed artists and musicians, along with Penco art supplies, is undergoing an upscale renovation; many of its tenants are being evicted. The plan doesn’t include Printers Service, which will seek a less pricey locale outside of downtown Minneapolis.