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Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington, and Memorial Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. The Metrodome is home to the following sports teams:
- Minnesota Vikings (NFL)
- Minnesota Twins (MLB)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers football (Big Ten)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball, first half of season (second half at Siebert Field) (Big Ten) It was the home at one time for:
- Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) (1989-1990)
- Minnesota Strikers (NASL soccer) (1984)

History

Construction on the Metrodome began on December 20, 1979 and was funded by the state of Minnesota. The dome is air-inflated and requires 250,000 ft³/min (120 m³/s) of air to keep it inflated. Three times in the stadium's history, heavy snows have caused a small puncture in the roof and caused it to deflate. Varying air pressure due to a severe storm once contributed to a dramatic deflation during a game. During its early years of operation, the field at the Metrodome was surfaced with SuperTurf, which was disliked by both football and baseball players as being too hard. This surface was upgraded to Astroturf in 1987, and in 2004, the Twins had a newer artificial surface, called FieldTurf, installed. FieldTurf is thought to be a closer approximation to natural grass than Astroturf in its softness, appearance, and feel. The 1985 Baseball All-Star Game, games of the 1987 and the 1991 World Series, Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, and the 1992 and 2001 NCAA Final Four were all held at the Metrodome. The stadium is named after former mayor of Minneapolis, US Senator and US Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey. The Metrodome is both beloved and reviled by Twins fans. The Twins have won both of their World Series championships in its friendly confines (and winning both Series by winning all four games held at the Dome), and the white roof, quick turf, and the right-field wall (or "Baggie") can provide a substantial home-field advantage for the Twins. Because it was designed for football, the Metrodome has severe disadvantages as a baseball venue. The way many seats are situated forces some fans to crane their necks to see home plate. Neither the main nor the upper concourse has visibility to the field, meaning fans risk missing play whenever they leave for the concession stands. The Dome's sight lines tend to be below average, with nearly 1,400 seats having obscured or partial visibility to the playing field.

The Baggie

The Metrodome's right-field wall is composed of the seven-foot-high (2.1 m) fence around the whole outfield and a 16-foot-high (4.9 m) plastic wall extension in right field, known as the "Baggie" or the "Hefty Bag." The seats above and behind the baggie are home run territory, the baggie itself is part of the outfield wall. Fenway Park's "Green Monster," a comparable but taller feature, is 17 feet (5.2 m) closer to home plate than the Baggie is, so batters who hit short, high fly balls are not typically helped by it. However, it is an attractive target for left-handed power hitters, and it is not uncommon for upper-deck home runs to be hit to right field. When in a rectangular configuration for football and other small-field events, the baggie is taken down and the seats behind it extend to form complete lower-deck seating.

The Roof

home run The Metrodome's roof is made of two layers of Teflon fabric, and is supported by positive air pressure. To maintain the differential air pressure, spectators usually enter and leave the seating and concourse areas through revolving doors, since the use of regular doors is accompanied by a strong breeze. The double-walled construction allows warmed air to circulate beneath the top of the dome, melting accumulated snow. However, on November 19, 1981, a rapid accumulation of over a foot of snow caused the roof to collapse, requiring it to be reinflated. Because it's unusually low to the playing field (172 feet/52.4 m), the air-inflated dome is occasionally touched by the ball, altering play. Any ball which strikes the Dome roof remains in play; if it lands in foul territory it becomes a foul ball, if it lands in fair territory it becomes a fair ball. Any ball which becomes caught in the roof over fair ground (which has only happened once) is a ground rule double. More common is for a ball to strike an overhead speaker, which are even closer to the playing surface; such balls are also alive and in-play (although starting with the 2005 MLB season, the ground rules for balls hitting the speakers have been changed). The low roof has never been a concern for events other than baseball.

Possible replacements

The Dome is thought to be an increasingly poor fit for all three of its major tenants (the Twins, the Vikings and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team). The Dome's sight lines tend to be poor, with nearly 1,400 seats having obscured or partial visibility to the playing field. Fans of all three of its major tenants note and resent the complete lack of natural lighting, the Dome's processed air and cramped seating arrangements. These tenants say the Metrodome is nearing the end of its useful lifespan, although the stadium is structurally sound and could last decades without major repairs. The Twins, the Vikings and the Gophers have all proposed replacements for the Metrodome, of which the proposed Twins ballpark is closest to fruition as of 2004. The Twins wish to replace the Metrodome with a new ballpark in downtown Minneapolis within the next half decade. The Twins are on a year-to-year lease at the Metrodome, and may thus move to another city at any time. However, no large American markets or new major-league-quality stadiums exist without a current team; it is accepted that the Twins could not profit from a move to another city. Twins management claims that the Metrodome generates too little revenue for the Twins to be competitive. In particular, the Twins receive no revenue from luxury suite leasing (as those are owned by the Vikings) and only a small percentage of concessions sales; also, the percentage of season-ticket-quality seats in the Metrodome is said to be very low compared to other stadiums. The Twins are seeking taxpayer subsidy of more than $200 million to assist in construction of the stadium. On April 26, 2005, the Twins and Hennepin County announced that an acceptable deal had been reached, involving the Twins paying roughly 1/3 of the cost of the stadium, with the rest being paid for by a 0.15% Hennepin County sales tax. The deal would need to be approved by the Hennepin County Board. On April 28 the Board announced that they were delaying a vote by one week. On May 3 the Board voted in favor of the stadium deal. The vote was 4-3 falling entirely along gender lines, with Commissioners Mike Opat (District 1), Mark Stenglein (District 2), Peter McLaughlin (District 4, a possible DFL candidate in the city's 2005 mayoral election) and Randy Johnson (District 5) in favor. Gail Dorfman (District 3), Linda Koblick (District 6) and Penny Steele (District 7) were against the proposal. Minneapolis DFL mayor R.T. Rybak had already weighed in in favor of the stadium, a move said to hurt his bid for the party's endorsement for re-election. The plan passed its second hurdle on May 9, 2005 when a House committee of the Minnesota Legislature approved it to be sent to the floor on a 17-5 vote. The University of Minnesota is looking for a solution to build an on-campus stadium to replace their use of the Metrodome, which is a mile west of the edge of campus (and of the site of the stadium they demolished when they moved into the Metrodome). Attendance at Gopher football games rarely fills the Metrodome to capacity, and it is thought that, in order to pep up its student base for increased ticket sales, an on-campus stadium is required. A University-only stadium is expected to cost less than half of what a NFL-quality football stadium might cost, and tentative plans have been developed to build a new stadium on surface parking lots just a few blocks east of the former Memorial Stadium. TCF Bank has agreed to be a substantial donor, and the stadium if built will be called TCF Bank Stadium. The University of Minnesota is expected to raise more than half the cost of the stadium via private donations. The Vikings are thought to be the least hampered by their current situation in the Metrodome, but they are also the only tenant likely to move after their current lease expires, in 2011; an enormous market without an NFL team exists in Los Angeles, and San Antonio, Texas has also been discussed as a possible site. The fear of losing the Vikings to another state may pressure governments to finance a new, revenue-generating stadium for the team. Downtown Minneapolis as well as the suburb of Blaine have been explored as potential stadium sites. The Vikings are seeking taxpayer subsidy of more than $300 million to assist in construction of the stadium, which may also be used for the many other non-baseball events currently taking place at the Metrodome. On September 20, 2005, the Vikings and Anoka County reached an agreement to build a 68,000 seat retractable-roof stadium in Blaine. The calls for the Vikings to pay $280 million, the county another $280 million, and the state $115 million. It would open in 2009 or 2010. It is impossible for the citizens of midsize U.S. metropolitan areas, such as the Twin Cities, to be assured that any given professional sports team will remain in the area. In the Twin Cities, the threat of franchise relocation was recently realized by the Minnesota North Stars' move to Dallas in 1993. The sports fans in the city hope new revenue-generating facilities, such as the much-praised Xcel Energy Center, will commit teams to remaining in the market. However, given the strong public opposition to subsidies for sports stadiums, the status of each proposal is very much in doubt. Baseball teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, and NFL teams like the New England Patriots, successfully footed the bill for their new stadiums. The fact that the site of the proposed stadium for the Gophers is only 500 yards (457 m) closer to the U of M Coffman Union than is the Metrodome makes the "on-campus" argument for the University tenuous at best.

Other Events

- Prep Bowl (Minnesota State High School League; state high school football championships)
- Various small college football games
- Various high school baseball and football games
- Monster truck, motocross, and other motor entertainment sports
- Large concerts (very few)
- Large religious services and gatherings
- Rollerdome and MDRA running (exercise programs in the concourses)
- Conventions, such as TwinsFest, golf shows, home and garden expos, and car shows
- Cultural celebrations, such as Hmong New Year gatherings

Getting there

The Metrodome is located near the junction of Interstate 94 and Interstate 35W, and many fans come by car. There is limited parking in surface lots throughout eastern downtown, ranging from $5 for a Twins game, to $50 for a close stall at a Vikings game. On-street meters provide the lowest parking rate. A new option as of 2004 is the Downtown East/Metrodome station on the light rail Hiawatha Line. Many people also come by bus, whether on a charter or on the regular regional bus system. A shuttle from the University of Minnesota is available when the Gophers play games at the dome. Tailgating has often been a popular pre-game activity for football fans, and many nearby parking lots have been available in the past for people who want to start early. However, in recent years, new development in the downtown region of Minneapolis has meant that these parking lots have begun to disappear. In 2004, some new options had to be considered for fans. The eventual result was setting up a new tailgating site quite a distance away, but with shuttle bus service provided.

External links

- [http://www.ballparkwatch.com/visits/metrodome.htm Ballpark Digest review of Metrodome]
- [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/ballpark/min_ballpark_history.jsp Minnesota Twins Web site]
- [http://www.fieldofschemes.com Web site referencing the stadium controversies in Minnesota] Category:Major League Baseball venues Category:College baseball venues Category:National Football League venues Category:Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Minnesota landmarks Category:Minnesota sports Category:College football venues Category:University of Minnesota Category:Buildings and structures in Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ja:メトロドーム

Stadium

]] .]] A modern stadium (plural stadiums, Latin plural stadia) is a place, or venue, for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.

History of the stadium

The word originates from the Greek "stadion" (στάδιον), literally a (place where people) stand. The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in western Peloponnese, Greece, where the Olympic Games of antiquity were held since 776 BC. Initially the Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. Therefore the length of the Olympia stadium was more or less standardized as a measure of distance (approximately 190 meters). The practice of standardizing footrace tracks to a length of 180-200 meters was followed by the Romans as well. Interestingly enough, a human's capacity to sustain maximum speed is known to diminish after about 200 meters of sprinting, a fact also seen in modern-day athletics. Greek and Roman stadia have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Colosseum or the Stadium of Domitian, both in Rome.

The modern stadium

Types

Domed stadiums have roofs. They are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for what are generally considered to be outdoor sports. (Those designed for what are usually indoor sports are called arenas.) Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields. An all-seater stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term "stadium" tends to be used mostly in connection with games like American football and soccer. An exception is the basketball arena at Duke University, which is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. The term "stadium" is also often used for baseball parks, especially since the construction of Yankee Stadium in 1923, but starting in the 1990s the cozier term "ballpark" has returned to favor for baseball-only facilities. 1990s's Koševo stadium.]]

Design issues

Different sports require fields of different size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for a single sport while other stadiums can accommodate different sports. Stadiums built specifically for some form of football are quite common. The most common multiple use design combines a football field with a running track, a combination which generally works fairly well, although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the field, especially at the ends of the field. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there aren't stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has a horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums. football provides a typical example of a baseball stadium / ballpark.]] In the United States, where baseball and American football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were successful. However, since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend beginning with Kansas City in 1972-1973, and accelerating in the 1990s, has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadiums. In several cases a football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park. In many cases, earlier baseball stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block. This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee Stadium, for example, was built on a triangular city block in The Bronx, New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a small right field dimension, which added to the stadium's character. Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States, many baseball parks, including Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park, Tiger Stadium, Fenway Park, Griffith Stadium, Milwaukee County Stadium, Shibe Park, Forbes Field and Sportsman's Park were used by the National Football League or the American Football League. The spectator areas of a stadium are often referred to as terraces, especially in the United Kingdom but also in some American baseball parks, as an alternative to the term tier. Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped with seating. Either way, the term originates from the step-like rows which resemble agricultural terraces. Related, but not precisely the same, is the use of terrace to describe a sloping portion of the outfield in a baseball park, possibly but not necessarily for seating, but for practical or decorative purposes. The most famous of these was at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. Poor stadium design has contributed to disasters such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel Stadium disaster.

Corporate naming

In recent decades, the owners of sports stadiums in the United States found it worthwhile to subsidize costs by accepting corporate sponsorships. This trend, which began in the 1970s but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones. In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years -- examples include San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, previously known as Jack Murphy Stadium. But many of the more recently-built ballparks, such as Milwaukee's Miller Park, have never been known by a non-corporate name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium name changes, for example when the namesake corporation changes its name, or if the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field, for example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark but was re-named to reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years, but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and it was another two years before a new name of Monster Park was applied. On the other hand, Los Angeles' now-defunct Great Western Forum, one of the earliest examples of corporate re-naming, retained its name for many years, even after the namesake bank no longer existed. Perhaps the most interesting example is Houston's Minute Maid Park, which hurriedly dropped its original name of Enron Field when scandal engulfed the latter corporation -- it became Astros Field for a year before finding a new corporate naming sponsor. This new trend in corporate naming (or re-naming) is distinguishable from names of some older parks such as Crosley Field, Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium, in that the parks were named by and for the club's owner, which also happened to be the names of companies owned by those clubowners. See also: Naming rights

Minneapolis, Minnesota

:This article is about the city in Minnesota, USA. There are two other cities named Minneapolis in the United States: Minneapolis, Kansas and Minneapolis, North Carolina. For an overview of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, see Minneapolis-St. Paul. Minneapolis-St. Paul] Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the county seat of Hennepin County. It adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital and second-largest city. Together they form the core of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the 15th-largest agglomeration in the country (and roughly 65th-largest in the world), with over 3,000,000 residents. In the 2000 census, the city itself had a total population of 382,618, making it the 47th-largest city in the United States. However, in the Census' 2004 estimates, that number had decreased to 373,943. If the two core cities themselves were combined together in the census, the resulting "city" would rank 17th, just between Louisville, Kentucky and Austin, Texas. People living in Minneapolis are called Minneapolitans although the label is rarely used. The city is in the southeast portion of the state and sits along the Mississippi River. There are also 24 small lakes in the city. The abundance of lakes led Charles Hoag, an early settler and Minneapolis's first schoolmaster, to suggest a name derived from minne, the Dakota word for water, and polis, the Greek word for city. Other names considered at the time were Brooklyn and Albion. The early use of "Brooklyn" for the then-village lives on into the 21st century in the names of two suburbs north of Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center. The city is also known as the "City of Lakes", a phrase that appears on many municipal vehicles and properties. The city center is located just south of 45 degrees north latitude. On the south side of Golden Valley Road just east of Wirth Parkway, there is a stone containing a weathered plaque, marking a point on 45th parallel. [http://www.wurlington-bros.com/45th/Mpls.html] Metro Area citizens take some pride in being "halfway to the North Pole". Minneapolis is recognized by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network as a world-class city.

History

The city grew up around the Saint Anthony Falls, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River and the end of the commercially navigable section of the river until locks were installed in the 1960s. Father Louis Hennepin was the first European to explore the area, giving the falls their name, as well as lending his name to the county in which Minneapolis is located. The nearby Fort Snelling spurred the growth of villages and towns in the area. A lumber mill was built on the falls in 1822 to supply the fort. In the 1840s, settlers were not allowed to stay on land controlled by the military without special permission, so the first settlement near the falls, St. Anthony, grew on the northeast side of the river, just outside of the fort's jurisdiction. The first person authorized to live on the river's southwest bank was Colonel John H. Stevens, who operated a ferry service starting around 1850. A few years later, the amount of land controlled by the fort was reduced with an order from U.S. President Millard Fillmore, and free settlement followed. The village of Minneapolis soon sprung up on the southwest bank of the river. The village of St. Anthony was incorporated by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in 1855, and Minneapolis soon followed in 1856. The original campus of the University of Minnesota system first appeared near the falls at this time. Today it is a Big Ten university with more than 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Twin Cities alone, making it one of the largest campuses in the country. Minneapolis grew quickly during and after the Civil War and became a city in 1867. Outstripping the growth of its neighbor, the city merged with St. Anthony five years later in 1872. The early growth of the city was directed by the river, which ran to the southeast, and most early streets ran parallel to it to maximize the amount of land that could be used. Later growth of Minneapolis eventually turned to using north-south/east-west streets, so many unique intersections were formed to translate between the two layouts (probably the most famous of these is a site known as Seven Corners, on the eastern periphery of downtown). Some streets, especially many of the older and more traditionally important ones of the city, like Hennepin Ave. and Nicollet Ave., have both orientations at different points along their roadways. Nicollet Following an initial burst of activity in the lumber industry, the city's economy developed around the processing of grain from the Great Plains, which is reflected by the presence of companies such as General Mills and Pillsbury in the city. In its heyday, it was known as the "milling capital of the world." It was the leading producer of grain in the world until 1932. Today, it is still referred to as the mill city. More recently the city has become notable for its medical and financial industries, as well as the largest shopping mall in terms of indoor space in the United States, the Mall of America (actually located in Bloomington, a suburb south of Minneapolis). Minneapolis was the headquarters of Honeywell International Inc. The 1920s and 1930s were a rather dark period in the city's history, as organized crime and corruption took hold of the region. The most notorious gangster from this time was Kid Cann (real name Isadore Blumenfeld) who ran much of his operation from the city's West Hotel and engaged in bootlegging, racketeering, and prostitution. Although the 1920s and 1930s were mostly bleak, November 26, 1922 would bring the birth of one Charles M. Schultz. With his comic strip "Peanuts" he would lift the country's spirits in future periods of difficulty. In the 1950s and 1960s, the downtown area of Minneapolis went through a major phase of urban renewal, which involved the razing of about 200 buildings across 25 city blocks—roughly 40% of the area. This included the destruction of a slum area known as "Skid Row," but also the destruction of many buildings with notable architecture. One of the most lamented buildings was the Metropolitan Building, known simply as "the Met". Efforts to save the building (which ultimately failed) are credited with jumpstarting a much greater interest in historic preservation in the state of Minnesota. While it was never official policy, segregation occurred between whites and blacks in the city, and in some ways, racial issues still trouble the city today. A desegregation program of forced busing to balance the number of black and white schoolchildren in city schools began in 1972. Ethnic diversity continues to grow in the area, although African American residents continue to complain that they are excessively targeted by the Minneapolis Police Department and Minneapolis has a higher rate of black poverty than many other American cities. In the 1980s, Minneapolis took its place as a center of the arts, with the Walker Arts Center leading the nation in appreciation of pop and postmodern art, and a diverse range of musicians, from Prince to Hüsker Dü to the Replacements to the Suburbs to Soul Asylum keeping up with the nation in musical innovation. This gave rise to the term "the Minneapolis sound", though the groups really shared very little in stylistic terms. Minneapolis sound Another relatively troubled period in parts of Minneapolis was the 1990s, when the murder rate and incidence of gang violence climbed, almost entirely in poorer neighborhoods of the city. The Phillips neighborhood (now referred to as Phillips Community) was particularly hard-hit. After reaching a record 97 homicides in 1995, the city gained an unpleasant nickname because of the violence: "Murderapolis." Supposedly coined by local gun shop owner Mark Koscielski, the term gained widespread use after The New York Times used it when reporting that Minneapolis had surpassed the per capita homicide rate of New York City. The murder rate retreated in the following years, but area residents often grow concerned that the nickname may make a comeback whenever there is an uptick in violence in the city. Health and environmental issues have gained importance over the years. Many cleanup projects have taken place, and industrial activities have been scaled back or modified within the city. Minneapolis claims to be exceeding the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, having significantly reduced emissions from stationary sources in recent decades, though automobile emissions continue to rise. On the scale of individuals, a ban on smoking in all bars, bowling alleys and restaurants went into effect in March 2005.

Geography

March 2005 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 151.3 km² (58.4 mi²). 142.2 km² (54.9 mi²) of it is land and 9.1 km² (3.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 6.01% water.

Demographics

Minnesota has historically been a home to Scandinavian and German immigrants. Scandinavians (mostly Norwegians and Swedes) tended to settle in the colder, forested north, and Germans often resided in the relatively warmer rolling hills of the south. Minneapolis sits between these two regions and thus has large populations of people of German and Scandinavian descent. Minneapolis also has a large Native American population, one of the largest in the United States. After the Vietnam War, Minneapolis became a destination city for Hmong and Vietnamese refugees. More recently, a large influx of Somali refugees has modified Minneapolis's ethnic makeup. Somali The population residing within the city's limits has decreased significantly since its peak of 521,718 in 1950, although the number of people residing in the city has seen a rebound in recent years. The 1990 census recorded a low of 368,383, and the next census saw a small increase from that level. The rebounding growth has largely been due to an increase in the number of non-white residents, as the number of white residents has continued to decline and is now at its lowest level since the very early 20th century when the city had a much smaller total population. Jews, for example, were once a significant presence in the northern part of the city, but they have largely moved out to suburbs such as St. Louis Park. In general, the Twin Cities suburbs have seen massive growth, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area has roughly doubled since 1950 and now has about three million residents. The downtown region also saw a major decline in population, but managed to retain residents better than many similar cities. The downtown population has been booming in the last decade as new condominiums are completed and warehouses are converted to loft-style housing. The U.S. census recorded 20,201 residents in the city center in 2000, but an estimate by Maxfield Research just five years later in January 2005 put the number at 29,350, fully recovering from losses in the 1960s and 1970s. Considering the number of new condos in development, the downtown district could reach 40,000 by 2010. Still, the people living downtown are greatly outnumbered by commuters, who bring the daytime population up to about 165,000 each weekday. As of the census ² of 2000, there are 382,618 people, 162,352 households, and 73,870 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,691.4/km² (6,970.3/mi²). There are 168,606 housing units at an average density of 1,186.0/km² (3,071.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 65.13% White, 17.99% African American, 2.19% Native American, 6.13% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.13% from other races, and 4.36% from two or more races. 7.63% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 162,352 households out of which 22.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.0% are married couples living together, 12.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 54.5% are non-families. 40.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.25 and the average family size is 3.15. In the city the population is spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 14.4% from 18 to 24, 36.6% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.1 males. The median income for a household in the city is $37,974, and the median income for a family is $48,602. Males have a median income of $35,216 versus $30,663 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,685. 16.9% of the population and 11.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.5% of those under the age of 18 and 10.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Minneapolis neighborhoods

poverty line The city is officially divided into several communities, each containing multiple neighborhoods. For example, the area typically referred to by locals as "North Minneapolis" is actually the Near North community, which is composed of the Hawthorne, Jordan, Near-North, and Willard-Hay neighborhoods.[http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/about/maps/neighborhoods.pdf] Most of the neighborhoods in Minneapolis coordinate certain activities under the Neighborhood Revitalization Program [http://www.nrp.org/]. In some cases, two to four neighborhoods act together under a single neighborhood organization. Some areas of the city are more commonly known by locally established nicknames, many of which are predominantly business districts. One such place is Dinkytown, near the University. To the southwest of Downtown is Uptown, which is loosely defined as the area around the Uptown Theater near the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, and features a large number of restaurants, bars, and independently owned businesses. The North Loop is a primarily residential section of the warehouse district extending to the west bank of the Mississippi river that is primarily made up of $1,250 a month apartments and $500,000 lofts.

Economy

Uptown Theater Minneapolis's economy has been historically based on the adjoining agricultural area, though that has changed as can be seen from the list of companies below:
- Target Corporation
- USBancorp
- Marshall Field's, a division of the May Department Stores Company
- Xcel Energy,
- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, formed by the 2001 merger of Minneapolis-based Lutheran Brotherhood and Appleton, Wisconsin-based Aid Association for Lutherans.
- Augsburg Fortress, the official publisher of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Ameriprise Financial, Inc
- RBC Dain Rauscher
- Fair Isaac Corporation
- Piper Jaffray
- Graco
- 3M formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002
- General Mills is based in Golden Valley, Minnesota, though it lists Minneapolis as its headquarters address.

Law and government

Golden Valley, Minnesota Minneapolis has an arguably convoluted set of different government entities that oversee actions in the city. The most prominent is the Minneapolis City Council, which holds the most power. The mayor has some power to appoint certain individuals, such as the chief of police, but is otherwise relatively weak and must coordinate with the city council for most other activities. Other groups in the city include the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Public Library's Board of Trustees, the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, the Public Housing Authority, and the Board of Estimate and Taxation. These councils tend to be semi-independent, and some can levy their own taxes and fees. The school board exists as a separate legal entity from the city as Special School District Number 1, commonly called the Minneapolis Public Schools. There are some efforts currently underway to examine how the city government can be streamlined, though it is hard to say how quickly any changes might come about. A number of the city boards were created by the Minnesota Legislature between the time of the city's founding and 1920 when the city finally gained home rule by passing a new charter (simply an agglomeration of the various laws that had been specifically written for the city at the time).

Mayor

The current mayor of Minneapolis is R.T. Rybak. There have been a number of notable individuals who have held the office. Most are known for their positive influences on the city. Hubert H. Humphrey, who became mayor in 1945, started what may be the first equal employment commission while he was in office. He later went on to serve as US vice president and ran for president in 1968. Arthur Naftalin was the first Jewish mayor, while Sharon Sayles Belton became the first woman and the first African-American to hold the office. The city government has not been immune to corruption, however, and the man who exemplified that was "Doc" Ames. He essentially turned the police force into a group of organized criminals before an investigation forced him out of office more than a century ago.

City council

The Minneapolis City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) dominates the council, with ten members, and Paul Ostrow (DFL, Ward 1) is council president. The Green Party has two members, and there is one independent.

Culture

Arts

Green Party Minneapolis claims to have the highest per capita attendance at theater and arts events outside of New York City, perhaps boosted by its famously harsh winters. The region is reportedly the third-largest theater market in the country, attracting major performances. The Guthrie Theater is the most famous theater in the city. In order to help revitalize the downtown and warehouse district areas of Minneapolis which had declined in the mid to late 20th century, the city purchased and renovated a few theaters on Hennepin Avenue to create the Hennepin Theatre District, including the State, Orpheum, and Pantages venues. In 2004 with an attendance of 50,197, Minneapolis's [http://www.fringefestival.org Minnesota Fringe Festival] was the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States and the third largest Fringe festival in North America. In 2005, the Minnesota Fringe ran 11 days, August 4-14 with 44,630 paid tickets. In 2004, 1,100 artists produced over 800 individual performances and events. The most extensive museum in the city is the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Modern art is displayed in the Walker Art Center. The Walker includes an outdoor sculpture garden with "Spoonbridge and Cherry," which has become a symbol of the city. Spoonbridge and Cherry Spoonbridge and Cherry The Warehouse District adjoining downtown was a hub of studio and gallery activity in the 1980s, but most artists have been driven out by high rents. Today the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District is the most vibrant visual arts community in the city, though the largest art event (one of the largest in the nation) is the annual Uptown Art Fair. Numerous festivals are held across the city during the year. Many are small, although others can attract visitors from across the region. Fireworks displays occur several times a year, although the largest is not on July 4th as in most American cities—that is reserved for one night during the official city celebration, the Aquatennial, held in mid-July. The Aquatennial display is reportedly the fourth-largest annual fireworks show in the nation. Arts education is also strong in Minneapolis, with schools like the Perpich Center for Arts Education, an arts-oriented charter high school, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, an arts college adjacent to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, playing a central role in the city's visual, music and literary scenes. Minneapolis was home to the "Minneapolis Sound" in pop music in the 1980s. Prince is Minneapolis's most famous musical progeny. His 1980 album Dirty Mind, features a song called "Uptown", dedicated to his favorite neighborhood in the city, and several other songs include references to the city. Arguably, producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have also been as or more influential as Prince in creating the Minneapolis Sound. The punk rock/pop groups such as Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were a force in the late 1980s, and Paul Westerberg (of the Replacements) still lives and works in Minneapolis. Popular acts from the 1990s include Babes in Toyland, The Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, and Semisonic.

Media

The major daily newspaper in Minneapolis is the Star Tribune, which competes with St. Paul's Pioneer Press. Both of those are subscription-based papers, while a number of other publications in the city are entirely funded by advertising. The best-known community papers are the Southwest Journal, [http://www.dtjournal.com Downtown Journal] (formerly Skyway News), Seward Profile, Southside Pride and North News. The [http://www.mplsobserver.com Minneapolis Observer] covers the entire city. The Minnesota Daily, a student-run newspaper at the University of Minnesota, is also produced in Minneapolis and has the third-largest circulation in the region. Significant free Minneapolis-based metro-area weeklies include City Pages and Pulse of the Twin Cities, with 2002 newcomer The Rake offering some competition in the form of a free monthly. WCCO Channel 4, a CBS affiliate, is the only major Twin Cities television outlet that originates its broadcasts from within the city limits of Minneapolis today. Their studios are at the south end of Nicollet Mall in the downtown area. All of the other significant stations broadcasting to the metro area are based in neighboring St. Paul or the suburbs. However, KSTP Channel 5, an ABC affiliate, is located right at the border between the two cities along University Avenue. Other TV stations that can be received in Minneapolis include:
- KTCA Channel 2 (PBS)
- KMSP Channel 9 (Fox)
- KARE Channel 11 (NBC)
- KTCI Channel 17 (PBS)
- KMWB Channel 23 (WB)
- WFTC Channel 29 (UPN)
- KPXM Channel 41 (i)
- KSTC Channel 45 (Independent) Significant radio stations that can be received in the city include:
- KFXN 690 AM ("The Score", sports and talk, "broadcasting from a swamp in New Hope")
- KUOM 770 AM/106.5 FM ("Radio K", college rock)
- WCCO 830 AM ("The Good Neighbor", talk)
- KTNF 950 AM ("Air America Minnesota", talk)
- KFAN 1130 AM ("The Fan", sports and talk)
- KSTP 1500 AM (talk)
- KBEM 88.5 FM ("Jazz 88", jazz)
- KMOJ 89.9 FM ("The People's Station", r&b/community)
- KCMP 89.3/KMSE 88.7 FM ("The Current", indie rock)
- KNOW 91.1 FM ("Minnesota Public Radio", news)
- KQRS 92.5 FM ("KQ92", classic rock)
- KXXR 93.7 FM ("93X", hard rock)
- KSTP 94.5 FM ("KS95", hot adult contemporary)
- KTTB 96.3 FM ("B96", rhythmic contemporary hits)
- KTCZ 97.1 FM ("Cities 97", adult album alternative)
- KTIS 98.5 FM (contemporary Christian)
- KSJN 99.5 FM ("Minnesota Public Radio" classical)
- KJZI 100.3 FM ("Smooth Jazz 100.3", smooth jazz)
- KDWB 101.3 FM (contemporary hits)
- KEEY 102.1 FM ("K-102 - country)
- WLTE 102.9 FM ("102.9 Lite FM", adult contemporary)
- KZJK 104.1 FM ("jack FM - variety hits)
- WGVX 105.1/WGVY 105.3/WGVZ 105.7 FM ("Drive 105", adult alternative)
- WFMP 107.1 FM ("FM 107", talk radio)
- KQQL 107.9 FM ("Kool 108", oldies) The communications towers on top of the IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis mark the highest points in the city and are used by a few low- to medium-power broadcasters such as Univision and the Home Shopping Network. A number of major broadcasters attempted to use that site in the years after the IDS was built, but because of technical difficulties such as multipath interference, most of them now use other sites in the suburbs. Probably the most significant collection of transmitters is in Shoreview, Minnesota. The IDS is still maintained as a backup transmission site. At least one small radio station, KFAI, uses the antenna atop the Foshay Tower, which had been the city's highest point until the IDS Center went up in the 1970s.

Sports

1970s Minneapolis has a large park system consisting of ten square miles (26 km²) of land and water that is interlinked in many places. The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway circles through the city and brings together many of the bigger park areas including land along the Mississippi River, many of the city's lakes, and other scenic areas of the city. The views are fantastic throughout the year. The route has a parkway for cars (not a freeway—literally just a roadway through park land, though the number of stops is reduced), a bikeway for riders, and a walkway for pedestrians all running in roughly parallel paths along the 50-mile route. It is the first natural scenic byway totally located in a major urban area. Additional routes in the Minneapolis park system criss-cross the city, and the number of bikeways and walkways continues to grow. They also interconnect with neighboring cities. One of the most famous parks in Minneapolis is Minnehaha Park, where Minnehaha Falls is located. A number of cultural heritage events take place there every year. There are several freshwater lakes across the southern part of the city. The most significant grouping is the western "Chain of Lakes" consisting of Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake. Lake Nokomis and Lake Hiawatha lie farther to the east. The Minnesota Twins (Major League Baseball) and the Vikings (NFL football) both call the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome home. The stadium is at the east end of downtown Minneapolis. Several blocks farther west in the city's Warehouse District, the Target Center is home to the Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) and Lynx (WNBA) basketball teams. The Hennepin County board on May 3 2005 approved a new ballpark for the Twins in the Warehouse District, across the street from the Target Center. Minneapolis is considering a dual bid with Saint Paul, MN for the 2016 Summer Olympics according to a report on August 7, 2005

Transportation

2005 A system of "skyways" (small, fully enclosed pedestrian bridges) link the buildings across more than 60 city blocks downtown region, providing a way to travel around the city without being exposed to the cold of winter or the heat of summer. The system is widely used by the daytime worker population, who are able to move around without their coats and other outdoor gear all day long. The street-level foot traffic is greatly reduced (especially as the outdoor temperature dips) and many businesses that would normally be located at ground level in other cities are instead brought up to the second floor. In fact, the interconnected passageways that include restaurants and retailers are sometimes considered as one of the largest shopping centers in the Twin Cities (though most businesses in the skyways close down at night and on the weekend). Historically, Minneapolis and St. Paul provided some of the earliest rail passages across the Mississippi River, which widens downriver where the St. Croix River joins the Mississippi. Today, rail traffic through the city is diminished, and some of the old bridges such as the Stone Arch Bridge have been converted for bicycle and pedestrian use. These link into the extensive park and trail system of the city. Most residents of Minneapolis get around the region by car, and a number of highways snake through the city. Minneapolis and St. Paul are the junction points between Interstate 94 and Interstate 35. I-35 splits into two parts when entering the metro area. The western half, I-35W, goes through downtown Minneapolis. The I-394 spur connects the downtown region to western suburbs. Two spurs from I-94, I-494 and I-694, make a loop around the metro area, but do not pass through the cities of Minneapolis or St. Paul. Only two U.S. highways pass through the city, but they are unmarked. Interstate 394 is largely an upgraded segment of U.S. Highway 12 which comes into the city from the western and then joins I-94 to follow that road around downtown and into St. Paul. U.S. Highway 52 follows Interstate 94 north of the metro area, so it is considered to follow that all of the way through the city today, though it had originally been routed along surface streets and along University Avenue between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota state highways include:
- Minnesota State Highway 47 (Minneapolis to Aitkin) enters the city from the North as University Avenue
- Minnesota State Highway 55 (Tenney to Hastings) passes through Minneapolis as Olson Memorial Highway and Hiawatha Avenue.
- Minnesota State Highway 62 (Eden Prairie to Fort Snelling) runs along the southern edge of the city as the Crosstown Highway
- Minnesota State Highway 65 (Minneapolis to Littlefork) follows Central Avenue through Northeast Minneapolis, then as Washington, 4th, and 5th Avenues though downtown Minneapolis
- Minnesota State Highway 77 (Apple Valley to Minneapolis) ends as it enters the city from the south as Cedar Avenue.
- Minnesota State Highway 121 (Richfield to Minneapolis) is a spur that connects Interstate 35W with Lyndale Avenue in South Minneapolis. The city is served by air with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which is at the southeast corner of the city off of Minnesota State Highway 5. The airport is also bordered by Saint Paul, Bloomington, and Richfield. It is the home base of Northwest Airlines. Many households depend on public transit and the occasional taxi to get around. For some, this is a strictly economic decision, but many people in the city choose to forgo having an automobile in favor of biking, walking, or taking the bus. The transit system is descended from an extensive streetcar network that was operated by Twin City Rapid Transit until the streetcars were totally removed and replaced by buses in the 1950s. It is fair to say that the city was built on the rail lines (like numerous other American cities), since the owners of the streetcar system invested heavily in real estate and intentionally built rails out to their land to spur development. real estate TCRT's descendant is Metro Transit, which runs most of the area's buses and has begun operation of a light rail system, the Hiawatha Line, which has proved to be popular. The line opened its first and second phases to the public in 2004, connecting the airport and Bloomington's Mall of America into downtown. A number of other rail projects including new commuter rail lines linking the city to the suburbs are in the planning stages, and the city council has officially begun "explor[ing] the feasibility of bringing back a streetcar system." [http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward9/docs/Streetcar-resl-2004R-317.pdf] Some bus rapid transit lines are also likely to be built in the coming years.

Bike trails

Over the last twenty years, the system of bicycle trails has expanded from a long-standing system of recreational trails, the Grand Rounds, to include a network of on-street bike lanes and an increasing number of commuter trails. Trails include:
- The Midtown Greenway
- The Kenilworth Trail
- The Cedar Lake Trail
- The West River Parkway along the Mississippi. Free online bicycle maps are provided by the city [http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/public-works/transportation/bicycles/maps/ here]. Minneapolis is one of the most heavily-biked cities in the country, with an average level of 10,000 people riding daily for commuting and recreation (there are significant seasonal variations, but many people bike year-round).

Famous Minneapolitans

:Category:Minneapolitans
- Eddie Albert, actor famous for role in Green Acres
- Louie Anderson
- Richard Dean Anderson
- The Andrews Sisters
- Lew Ayres
- C.C. Beck
- Mitch Clem
- Joel and Ethan Coen
- Rachael Leigh Cook
- Dr. Demento (aka Barry Hansen)
- Gordon R. Dickson
- Kimberly Elise
- Al Franken
- Thomas L. Friedman, journalist
- Neil Gaiman
- J. Paul Getty
- Terry Gilliam, the Stateside Monty Python
- Genevieve Gorder, Trading Spaces
- Josh Hartnett
- George Roy Hill
- Kent Hrbek
- Doug Pagitt
- Hubert H. Humphrey, former Vice President
- Dan Israel, songwriter
- Jerry Lynn, professional wrestler for Total Nonstop Action
- Mint Condition, famous band
- Walter Mondale, former Vice President
- Prince
- Charles Schulz, Creator of the Peanuts comic
- Lili St. Cyr
- Raymond W. Rolfe, Artist
- Semisonic
- Soul Asylum
- The Soviettes, punk rock band
- Tiny Tim (aka Herbert Khaury, buried in the city's Lakewood Cemetery)
- Vince Vaughn
- John Piper, Internationally known reformed author, theologian, and pastor of Bethlehem Baptist in downtown Minneapolis

Famous people from the Twin Cities area (near Minneapolis), or in Minneapolis for a brief time

- Garrison Keillor, host of A Prairie Home Companion (Anoka, Saint Paul)
- Jesse Ventura, wrestler and former Governor of Minnesota (Brooklyn Park)
- Kirby Puckett (grew up in Chicago, lives in Minneapolis suburbs)
- Bob Dylan (grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, spent brief time in Minneapolis)

Minneapolis in the media

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a popular television situation comedy in the 1970s, was set in Minneapolis. A statue of Mary Tyler Moore was erected downtown, on Nicollet Mall, in 2002 to commemorate the program. Although the city is not often a setting for movies, a few notable ones have been filmed there:
- Fargo
- Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men (set in Wabasha)
- The Mighty Ducks
- Jingle All the Way
- That Was Then, This Is Now, based on the novel by S.E. Hinton
- Untamed Heart
- Prince's movie Purple Rain featured First Avenue, considered the city's most influential music venue.
- Drop Dead Fred
- Joe Somebody
- Beautiful Girls
- 20 Bucks
- Drop Dead Gorgeous
- The Heartbreak Kid (some scenes) The [http://www.mnfilm.org/info/ Minnesota Film Board] has a listing of films made in Minnesota, many in Minneapolis.

Sister cities

Minneapolis has eight sister cities:
- Santiago, Chile (1961)
- Kuopio, Finland (1972)
- Ibaraki City, Japan (1980)
- Novosibirsk, Russia (1988, with St. Paul)
- Tours, France (1991)
- Harbin, China (1992)
- Eldoret, Kenya (2000)
- Uppsala, Sweden (2000) The city also maintains informal connections with the cities of Hiroshima, Japan and Kampala, Uganda.

External links

- [http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ City of Minneapolis Home Page]
- [http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/minneapolis.html Phototour of Minneapolis]
- [http://e-democracy.org/mpls Minneapolis Issues Forum]
- [http://www.minneapolis.org/ Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitor Association]
- [http://library12.municode.com/gateway.dll/MN/minnesota/261?f=templates&fn=default.htm&npusername=11490&nppassword=MCC&npac_credentialspresent=true&vid=default Minneapolis City Charter]
- [http://downtownmpls.com/ Downtown Minneapolis - Minneapolis Downtown Council]
- [http://www.nrp.org/R2/Neighborhoods/Orgs/Organizations.html Minneapolis Neighborhood Organizations]
- [http://www.tholt.com/peop.html Minneapolis Who's Who]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/collective/previews/fog_day_lo.ram A song about Minneapolis]
- [http://www.mplib.org/history/ A History of Minneapolis] - Minneapolis Public Library
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Minneapolis WikiTravel Entry For Minneapolis]
- [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/ National Weather Service Twin cities] Category:Cities in Minnesota Category:Hennepin County, Minnesota
- Category:Minneapolis-St. Paul Category:Cities on the Mississippi River ja:ミネアポリス

Mall of America

The Mall of America (also MOA, MoA, or the Megamall) is a shopping mall located in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The mall became the largest shopping mall in terms of area in the United States when it opened in 1992. However, the mall is not and has never been the largest in the world, or the largest in the United States in terms of shopping area; four larger shopping malls have been built in China, in North America the West Edmonton Mall in Canada is larger, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois and King of Prussia Mall in the Philadelphia suburbs have more retail space. The Mall of America is, however, the most visited shopping mall in the world with more than 40 million visitors annually (or roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota).

Mall design

Philadelphia The Mall of America has a gross area of 4.2 million ft² (390,000 m²), with 2.5 million ft² (230,000 m²) available as retail space. The mall is a nearly symmetrical building, with a roughly rectangular floor plan. Over 520 stores are arranged along three levels of pedestrian walkways on the sides of the rectangle, with a fourth level on one side. Four "anchor" department stores are located at the corners. The mall employs over 12,000 workers. The mall is located near the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, and is across the interstate from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Two nearly identical seven story parking ramps on east and west sides provide approximately 13,000 parking spaces. Parking lots on the north and south of the building, along with nearby overflow parking, bring the total number of spaces up to approximately 20,000. The mall is used as a major transportation hub in the region, with bus service linking the mall to other destinations. Regular public transit service is provided by Metro Transit and other area bus lines, and area casinos offer free shuttles to their establishments. One of the major bus stations is in the lower level of the eastern parking ramp, where a new light rail connection opened on December 4, 2004. The Hiawatha Line connects the mall to the MSP airport and stretches into downtown Minneapolis (another major shopping destination in the region, particularly during weekdays). It is expected that the line to the mall will be heavily marketed to passengers at the airport, particularly people who will be on layovers of three hours or more. The mall is being discouraged as a park and ride facility, and overnight parking is banned to prevent passengers taking the train to the airport. Commuters and airport parkers are encouraged to use the nearby 28th Avenue Station's parking lot. Despite being in Minnesota, the mall is largely unheated. Heat is allowed in through skylights above Camp Snoopy, heat is produced by lighting fixtures and other devices, and also produced by the employees and guests of the mall, in sufficient amounts to keep it comfortable. Only the mall's entrances are heated. In fact, even during the winter, air conditioning systems need to be run nonstop during peak hours to ensure a comfortable shopping environment.

Camp Snoopy

air conditioning Camp Snoopy is an indoor theme park in the center of the mall. The park features two rollercoasters among numerous other rides and attractions, and is the largest indoor theme park in America. The theme involves Snoopy and other comic strip characters from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Paul Bunyan and SpongeBob SquarePants, though not associated with Peanuts are also featured at Camp Snoopy.

History

The Mall of America is located on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened. The teams left Met Stadium in 1982. A plaque in Camp Snoopy commemorates the former location of home plate. One seat from Met Stadium was placed in the Mall of America at the exact location (including elevation) it occupied in the stadium, to commemorate a 520 foot home run hit by hall-of-famer Harmon Killebrew on June 3, 1967. In 1986, The Bloomington Port Authority signed an agreement with the Ghermezian Organization, who had previously worked on West Edmonton Mall. Groundbreaking for the mall took place on June 14, 1989. Organizations involved include Melvin Simon and Associates, Teachers Insurance and Annuity, the Triple Five Group, and the office of architect Jon Jerde. The mall opened its doors to the public in 1992. Even before opening, the Mall of America had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall," "Sprawl of America," "Hugedale" (in reference to the four major area shopping malls Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and Brookdale) and, simply, "The Mall." In 2003, after a protracted six year legal battle between Simon Properties, the managing general partner of the property, and the Ghermezian brothers Triple Five Group over majority ownership of the site, a federal appeals judge ruled in favor of the Ghermezians, effectively transferring control and planning authority of the mall back to its original conceptualizer. The dispute stemmed from a 1999 purchase of Teacher's Insurance 27.5% equity stake by Simon Properties, giving them majority ownership. The Ghermezians claimed they were never told of the deal and sued Simon, citing fiduciary responsibility. The ruling clears the way for Triple Five to begin work on what is being called "Phase II", the development of the parcel of land north of the mall, the former site of the Met Center. Met CenterPhase II, in current form, includes a concert hall, ski slope, ice rink, condominiums, and a theme hotel; similar in design to the West Edmonton Mall. The plan has been impeded by outside forces, however. A casino proposal has proved to be highly controversial to the residents of the Twin Cities, especially Bloomington; and the theme hotel and other tall structures on the site have run into height and safety issues because of the mall's proximity to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Groundbreaking for Phase II is set for late fall 2005 to early spring 2006.

Notable attractions

- "Anchor" stores Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sears
- 14-screen AMC movie theater
- Camp Snoopy amusement park
- Underwater Adventures Aquarium
- Numerous full service restaurants
- Bars and nightclubs on the 4th floor
- A wedding chapel (called Chapel of Love)
- The Mall of America campus of National American University
- Lego Imagination Center
- Race for the Cure is held at the Mall of America on Mother's Day.
- The River Church at Mall of America

Citations

# Star Tribune (Lexis/Nexis Search), [http://www.startribune.com Brothers win back control of megamall; Simon Property will contest a ruling that transfers majority ownership.], September 12, 2003.

External links

- [http://www.mallofamerica.com/ Mall of America]
- [http://www.mallofamerica.com/moa/servlet/SMTMall?mid=369&pn=STATIC&frame=main&rs=0&file=General/history.html Mall of America History]
- [http://www.MOAPhaseII.com/ Mall of America's Phase II Expansion website]
- [http://www.triplefive.com/ Triple Five Group Ltd.]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=bloomington,mn&ll=44.854367,-93.242126&spn=0.010192,0.015836&t=k&hl=en Google maps] Category:Minnesota landmarks Category:Amusement parks Category:Minneapolis-St. Paul Category:Buildings and structures in Minnesota Category:Shopping malls in the United States

Memorial Stadium (University of Minnesota)

Memorial Stadium
Location	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Opened	1924
Closed	1981
Razed	1992
Capacity	Football: 57,000
Owned by	University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Surface:	Grass (1924-1969) Tartan Turf (1970-1976) Grass (1977-1981)
Tenant: University of Minnesota football team	1924-1981

Memorial Stadium also known as the "Old Brickhouse" was the home of Minnesota Golden Gophers football from 1924 until 1981. During that span the team won six national championships including three consecutive 1934-1936 the only team in NCAA Division 1a history to do so. The championship years were 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941 and 1960[http://www.ncaasports.com/football/mens/history/divia]. The stadium seated approximately 66,000 people, although many of the seats were far away from the field; the official capacity of the stadium during the 1970s was listed as 57,000. The school elected to move out of the stadium to the Metrodome about two miles away during the spring of 1982. The stadium was torn down 10 years later. The University of Minnesota is currently in the process of studying ways to build a new on-campus stadium, although the original site cannot be used because of new construction including an aquatic center and the McNamara Alumni Center. The new stadium if/when built will called the TCF Bank Stadium. The NFL's Minnesota Vikings played a 1969 regular season game against the Green Bay Packers at Memorial Stadium due to a conflict with a Minnesota Twins playoff game. The stadium opened on October 14, 1924. The stadium was dedicated to 3527 students, graduates, and workers who had served in World War I. The stadium sat on approximately 11 acres (45,000 m²). Prior to playing in Memorial Stadium the Gophers had played at Northrop Field. Category:Defunct college football venues Category:Defunct sports facilities Memorial Stadium Category:Minnesota sports

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a National Football League team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Originally, the ownership group was to have a team in the American Football League, but withdrew from the AFL and agreed to join the NFL as a 1961 expansion team. :Founded: 1961 :Division and Conference: National Football Conference North Division :Fight song: "Skol, Vikings" :Home field: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis :Previous home field: Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington (1961-1981) :Uniform colors: Purple, Gold, and White :Helmet design: Purple with a white viking horn :Nickname: The Vik's

Franchise history

The pro football saga in the Twin Cities began in August 1959, when five Minnesota businessmen were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League. Five months later in January 1960, the same ownership group made up of Bill Boyer, Ole Haugsrud, Bernie Ridder, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter first forfeited its AFL membership and then was awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise that was to begin play in 1961.

1960s

Minnesota's first management team was led by general manager Bert Rose and head coach Norm Van Brocklin. From the start, the Vikings embraced an energetic marketing program that produced a first-year season ticket sale of nearly 26,000 and an average home attendance of 34,586, about 85 percent of the capacity of 40,800 Metropolitan Stadium. Eventually the stadium capacity was increased to 47,900. Rose resigned from his position in 1964 and Van Brocklin quit abruptly in the spring of 1967. The Vikings went to Canada to get their replacements. Jim Finks, then general manager of the Calgary Stampeders, was named as the new general manager. Bud Grant, head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, became the new Vikings field leader. On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a 1st and 2nd-round choice in 1967, a 1st-round choice in '68 and a 2nd-round choice in '69. With the picks Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in '67, Ron Yary in '68 and Ed White in '69. The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns, 27-7, in the NFL Championship Game on Jan. 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. Minnesota became the 1st modern NFL expansion team to win an NFL Championship Game, which gave them a berth to the Super Bowl which the heavily favored Vikings dropped to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-7.

1970s

In 1972 the Vikings traded Norm Snead, Bob Grim, Vince Clements and a 1st-round choice in '72 and '73 to the New York Giants to reacquire the popular Tarkenton. On January 13, 1974, the Vikings played in the 2nd Super Bowl in franchise history against the Miami Dolphins at Rice Stadium in Houston, TX. The Dolphins prevailed, 24-7. Minnesota earned the trip to Super Bowl VIII by defeating Dallas, 27-10, in the NFC Championship game. The Vikings played in their 2nd straight Super Bowl, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-6, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans on January 12, 1975. Minnesota earned a trip to Super Bowl IX by defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 14-10, at Metropolitan Stadium on December 29, 1974. The Vikings played in their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years against the Oakland Raiders at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on January 9, 1977. The Vikings however, couldn't break its bad luck in the Super Bowl. Minnesota lost, 32-14. The Vikings earned a trip to Super Bowl XI by defeating the Rams, 24-13, at Metropolitan Stadium on December 26, 1976, in what ended up being the last Vikings playoff game at the Met. On January 1, 1978, the Vikings played Dallas Cowboys in their 4th NFC Championship Game in 5 years at Texas Stadium. Minnesota lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champs, 23-6.

1980s

On May 15, 1981, the Vikings moved into a new facility in Eden Prairie that houses the team's offices, locker room and practice fields. The complex was named "Winter Park" after Max Winter, one of the Vikings founders who served as the team's president from 1965-87. The Vikings played their 1st game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against Seattle on Aug. 21, 1982. Minnesota prevailed, 7-3. The 1st touchdown in the new facility was scored by Joe Senser on an 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer. The 1st regular-season game in the Metrodome was the 1982 opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated Tampa Bay, 17-10. Rickey Young scored the 1st regular-season touchdown in the facility on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter. On January 27, 1984, Bud Grant retired as Head Coach of the Vikings. In 17 seasons Grant led Minnesota to 12 playoff appearances, 11 division titles and 4 Super Bowls. His career regular-season record was 151-87-5 (.632). The person that would take his place would be Les Steckel. Les Steckel, who was an offensive assistant with the Vikings for 5 seasons, was named the 3rd head coach in franchise history on January 29, 1984. Steckel, who came to the Vikings in 1979 after working as an assistant with the 49ers, was the youngest head coach in the NFL in 1984 at age 38. After Steckel's dismal season, he was fired and on December 18, 1984, Bud Grant was re-hired as the head coach of the Vikings. On January 6, 1986, following the 1985 season, Bud Grant re-retired as head coach of the Vikings. At the time of his retirement he was the 6th winningest coach in NFL history with 168 career wins, including playoffs. In 18 seasons he led the Vikings to a 158-96-5 regular season record. Longtime Vikings assistant coach Jerry Burns was named the 4th head coach in team history on January 7, 1986. He served as the Vikings offensive coordinator from 1968-85, when the team won 11 division titles and played in 4 Super Bowls. In his first season, the Vikings led by the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Tommy Kramer, went 9-7, their first winning record in 4 years. In his second season, he led the Vikings to the NFC championship game. The Vikings played the Redskins in the NFC Championship Game on January 17, 1988, at RFK Stadium. Trailing 17-10, the Vikings drove to the Redskins' 6-yard line with a little over a minute left in the game but failed to get the ball into the end zone. Minnesota upset New Orleans, 44-10, at the Superdome and San Francisco, 36-24, at Candlestick Park in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs to earn a trip to the conference title game. The Vikings would make what would be considered its biggest blunder in team history. On October 12, 1989, the Vikings acquired Herschel Walker from Dallas for Issiac Holt, David Howard, Darrin Nelson, Jesse Solomon, Alex Stewart, a first-round choice in 1992, conditional 1st-round choices in 1990 and '91, conditional 2nd-round choices in 1990, '91 and '92, and a conditional 3rd-round choice in 1992. The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, a 3rd (Mike Jones), 5th (Reggie Thornton) and 10th-round choice (Pat Newman) in 1990 and a 3rd-round choice in 1991 (Jake Reed), while Dallas received all 5 players, a 1st, 2nd and 6th-round choice in 1990, a 1st and 2nd-round choice in 1991 and a 1st, 2nd and 3rd-round choice in 1992.

1990s

On December 3, 1991, Jerry Burns announced his retirement. In 6 seasons as Head Coach of the Vikings, Burns compiled a career record of 52-43 (.547). He also led Minnesota to 3 playoff appearances, including a division title and an NFC Championship Game. On January 10, 1992, Dennis Green was named the 5th Head Coach in team history. He came to Minnesota after turning around a struggling Stanford University football program as head coach there from 1989-91. In his 10 seasons as the coach of the Vikings, he won 4 NFC Central division titles, had 8 playoff appearances, 2 NFC championship game appearances and an all-time record of 97-62. The team had 2 disappointing losses of note during Green's tenure: The 1998 NFC Championship game and the 2000 NFC Championship game. The former was lost 30-27 in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons at the Metrodome and the latter was lost 41-0 to the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.

2000s

Tragedy struck the Minnesota Vikings in the summer of 2001, when Offensive Lineman Korey String