George Latimer, the longest-serving mayor in St. Paul’s history, died on Sunday. He was 89.

Latimer served as St. Paul’s mayor from 1976 to 1990, overseeing a transformational time for the city.

His mark can still be seen all around St. Paul, and he is remembered for redeveloping the downtown core, with major projects such as the 38-story Wells Fargo Place, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and revitalizing the Lowertown neighborhood.

Latimer was also on hand for the demolition of Block 40 in the 1980s to make way for what is now Cray Plaza, a mixed use development overlooking Mears Park that features two of St. Paul’s tallest residential high rises.

“The significance is what’s going to replace it, which is a whole new hub of people activity in a part of our downtown that had been half-vacant before,” he said.

Anther of his major accomplishments was creating District Energy. The system provides energy to downtown St. Paul and the West Side neighborhood through a series of pipes carrying water for heating or cooling.

Latimer’s vision of making St. Paul a green city was decades ahead of its time.

“We will be developing a system which, should other energy sources be developed, can be adapted to either coal or the burning of garbage or to solar or to whatever the future may hold,” he said of District Energy.

There’s a fitting tribute to Latimer in the heart of St. Paul today. In 2014, the city’s central library was renamed in his honor — a symbol of his lasting legacy.

In 1986, Latimer unsuccessfully sought the DFL nomination for governor, losing the primary to incumbent Rudy Perpich.

In a post on social media, current St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter reflected on Latimer’s death.

“His passing is a profound loss for our community and personally,” Carter wrote. “Mayor Latimer recognized that a city is more than its buildings and streets; it’s about the people who call it home.”

Funeral arrangements have not been set.