How old is the metrodome

What year was the Metrodome in Minneapolis built? What is the name of the Minnesota Vikings Stadium? Would a trillion pennies fit in the metrodome? The metrodome is located in which state? What year was the first hit in the metrodome? How far is msp international airport from the metrodome?

Who hit the first home run in the Metrodome? Who owns the Metrodome in the Twin Cities Minnesota? Is the thing that keeps rhythm a metrodome or a metradome what is it? What was the Minnesota Twins' second stadium? What is the name of the the stadium the Minnesota Vikings play in?

Who was the contractor that built the metrodome? What is the stadium name for the Minnesota Vikings? People also asked. View results. Study Guides. Trending Questions. What is the fourth element of the periodic table of elements? Still have questions? Find more answers. Despite a number of players who would become stars, eventually helping the team to the world championship in , in the Twins lost more than games, and attendance was only , In , the Twins were , and it was becoming clear that the attendance would probably not achieve the average of 1.

The response of the local business community, led by envelope entrepreneur Harvey Mackay, was to begin buying unused tickets to the games. The plan was to buy the least expensive tickets, which meant focusing on the weekday games, when ticket prices were discounted.

Although fewer than 10, fans attended the game, the paid attendance was 26, The next day, with discounted prices in effect, the paid attendance was 51,, although the number of fans present was closer to 8, with more than 2, of those being school-patrol members who got in free, leaving the turnstile count for paid ticket holders at 6, The Twins began announcing two attendance figures for games based on tickets sold and on the turnstile count.

A legal battle loomed as to whether this artificial padding of attendance would actually stop Griffith from exercising his escape clause; instead, in June of , Griffith signed a letter of intent to sell the Twins to banker Carl Pohlad. Concerns about the lack of revenues generated for baseball in the Metrodome prompted the Twins to seek a new stadium in the latter part of the s, and the issue of a more suitable facility for the team continued into the 21st century and was finally settled with the construction of an open-air stadium on the other end of downtown Minneapolis from the Metrodome.

The Metrodome was functional but short on amenities. The sterile nature of the stadium was not conducive to the aesthetic atmosphere desired by many fans. Other problems included the roof, which caused players to lose sight of fly balls. The first inside-the-park home run at the Metrodome came on Friday night, May 28, when Tom Brunansky hit a high fly to left. The artificial turf initially installed in the Metrodome was extremely spongy, causing high bounces that played havoc with fielders.

White Sox right fielder Harold Baines had a different problem with the turf on Sunday, June 24, The Twins were trailing, , with two on and one out in the last of the ninth when Tim Teufel dropped a hit into right field.

Baines charged in to field the ball, which hit a seam in the turf, bounced over his head, and rolled to the fence. Teufel ended up with a game-winning, three-run inside-the-park home run. Different types of artificial turf have been installed since then and the problem has lessened.

Despite the complaints about the Metrodome, its tenure as the home of the Twins and Vikings has exceeded that of Metropolitan Stadium and has been the site of a number of significant events in baseball and football:. The Twins won that World Series, against the St. They reached that mark on a home run by Claudell Washington at the Metrodome on April 20, Ripken also played in his 2,th consecutive game at the Metrodome August 1, College, high-school, and other amateur teams frequently use the Metrodome for games.

The Minnesota Gophers schedule many of their early-season games for the Metrodome and sometimes during poor weather have shifted games from Siebert Field, their normal home, to the Metrodome.

Amateur teams have often taken the field after Twins games, sometimes playing into the early hours of the next day. Besides the Vikings and Gophers, the Metrodome has hosted many small-college and high-school football games. Greenway: "Calling Ford Field 'home' for a game was bizarre. It was just black and gray and white, and it was just kind of, nobody really knew who to cheer for, nobody really had a team in the race. There were some Vikings fans who had flown over and were a part of that, but it was just really weird.

And I think our team, and the game, and the result reacted sort of the way you'd think we would. We didn't play well. We lost. We went from having a home game and home-field advantage to having an 'away' game at basically a neutral site, and the Giants were playing a road game regardless. So we did not react as well as you would like. The open-air venue had been winterized, and 4 feet of snow rested on the field. The playing surface now has a heating system that was installed when the Vikings played at the venue from during construction of U.

Bank Stadium. Piles of powder lined the aisles. Snow shovel brigades were hired, and plows removed snow from the field, preparing for a "bubbling" process of covering it and forcing hot air between the cover and turf. Days started before dawn. After dusk, Davisson would head to Winter Park to provide an update to Spielman or other leaders on the readiness for the Vikings to host the Bears on Monday Night Football as scheduled for Dec. Davisson: "I just remember how tired I was, and then I'd go back to the stadium.

It was tiring. I didn't see my wife for a while. I slept at the stadium a lot, especially the last two nights because we did bubble the field after we got it all plowed. It groomed off really nice. He essentially squatted at the stadium, relying on nearby fast food. He slept on the field under the tarp and also made use of a "big bench" in a "nice locker room. His wife delivered food to share with workers one night. Davisson: "It was a weird life.

Once we got everything cleared off, we painted it and bubbled it. We had it bubbled for like three days just to get some heat, and on game day, it was 45 degrees in the [turf] fibers. Unfortunately, it was snowing. We pulled the tarps early because Brett wanted to warm up. He didn't practice all week. We pulled the tarps early, and it got cold. Favre returned to the lineup against the Bears and threw a yard touchdown to Percy Harvin on his second pass of the night.

No one knew his storied career only had five attempts remaining. An injury suffered during a sack in the second quarter forced a punt, and Favre was replaced by Joe Webb. The snowy night provided the backdrop for Favre's th touchdown pass, th interception and th sack.

Ryan: "The footing was great in some spots on the field but was awful in a lot of other areas, and there just wasn't proper footwear to wear throughout the entire field.

That was a cold night. It rained, it snowed, it sleeted. It was hailing at one point. We seemed to have every brand of weather that was available. Greenway: "I remember seeing the hiring thing online or on TV where they're looking for snow shovelers. And it was about what you'd expect. But you think back, I remember looking up into the stands during the game — it's night, and the lights are on — and I can remember all the snow going up into the air.

All the fans were grabbing snow and throwing it up and kind of making these, not necessarily snowballs, but these snow flurries, and it was a pretty cool sight. The halftime ceremony honored the 50 Greatest Vikings with many of the players and Head Coach Bud Grant returning to the elements in which they starred, 29 years to the date of the last game at Metropolitan Stadium Dec. Minnesota's final two games of the season involved trips to Philadelphia for a game that was delayed from Sunday to Tuesday because of forecasted snow and a season finale at Detroit.

Allen: "It was just a hot mess. I think it was just one of those seasons where you just shake your head and say, 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It was one of those deals. Bagley: "At the time of the roof collapse, we were in the middle of a long-term stadium debate, and our argument for a new stadium in Minneapolis was the fact that the Metrodome was obsolete.

It was basically a concrete bunker with a Teflon roof. It wasn't complicated, and it wasn't a long-term, viable facility for our market. In the short term, the roof and the turf that molded from the precipitation were replaced in time for the season, but the Vikings maintained their quest for a new home. Some countered that the building had a new roof so it should be good to go. After a year effort by team officials and Vikings fans, legislation for a new stadium passed in May The decision that the new venue — eventually named U.

Bank Stadium — would be placed on the Metrodome site involved a tight turnaround. Groundbreaking for U. Bank Stadium occurred on Dec. Additionally, the location meant that the Vikings would return to the elements for two seasons at the University of Minnesota during construction of their new iconic home.

Davisson: "Having the game there in '10 really helped us for when we were going to play there for two years, because we knew what we needed and what could go wrong, even though more things went wrong.

As the Vikings learned to remake their home-field advantage and become the first team playing home games in a temporary stadium to host a playoff game, work continued on the east end of downtown Minneapolis, sparking developments on nearby blocks and altering the skyline. The first regular-season game at the Metrodome was the opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Rickey Young scored the first regular-season touchdown in the dome on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter.

On January 9, , the Vikings defeated the Atlanta Falcons , , in a 1st-round game that was the first playoff game at the Metrodome. The game on January 26, was the second Super Bowl to be played in a cold, winter climate city.

Indianapolis, Indiana lost in its bid to host the game at the Hoosier Dome , as did Detroit and Seattle, who had also applied.

When opened in , the Metrodome was appreciated for the protection it gave from mosquitoes, and later the weather. Only two Twins games at Metrodome were ever postponed. The first was on April 14, , when a massive snowstorm prevented the California Angels from getting to Minneapolis.

The game would have likely been postponed in any case, however; that night heavy snow caused part of the roof to collapse. The game scheduled for August 1 was played as scheduled about one hour after the bridge had collapsed because the team and police officials were concerned about too many fans departing Metrodome at one time, potentially causing conflict with rescue workers. The August 2 ceremonial groundbreaking at the eventual Target Field was also postponed, for the same reason.

The Twins played their final scheduled regular season game at Metrodome on October 4, , beating the Kansas City Royals , After the game, they held their scheduled farewell celebration. Because they ended the day tied with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central , a one-game playoff between the teams was played there on October 6, , with the Twins beating the Tigers in 12 innings.

The division clincher would be the Twins' last win at Metrodome. The announced crowd was 54,, setting the regular-season attendance record. The Twins' appearance in this series gave Metrodome the distinction of being the first American League stadium to end its Major League Baseball history with post-season play. The only other stadiums whose final games came in the post-season are Atlanta Fulton County Stadium , the Houston Astrodome and St.

When configured as a basketball arena, the fans in the nearby bleachers get a suitable view of the court, but the action is difficult to see in the upper decks and is very far away. Concessions are very far away from the temporary infrastructure. Most NBA and major college basketball arenas run to a maximum of 20, seats. However, the NCAA tournament makes a significant amount of money selling seats for regional and championship games for the Men's basketball tournament.

Metrodome set up for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ; temporary stands enclose the basketball court on two sides with the permanent stands on the other two. The Timberwolves used the stadium for its home basketball games during its inaugural season —90 in the NBA, while the team waited for construction of the Target Center to be completed. The team set NBA records for the highest single-season attendance ever: 1,, fans in 41 home games.

The largest crowd for a single game occurred on April 17, 49, fans watched the T-Wolves lose to the Denver Nuggets in the last game of the season. Beginning in the college football season, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers began playing their home football games at Metrodome. The first game was a victory over the Ohio Bobcats on September 11, Initially, attendance increased. Starting in the season, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Baseball team are playing all of their home games at Metrodome with the exception of a game at the new Target Field on March 27, Later games were played at Siebert Field , except for when all but two home games were played at Metrodome.

The team often played major tournaments at the Dome, which includes the Dairy Queen Classic, where three other major Division I baseball teams play in an invitational. Prior to the NCAA's rule in Division I regarding the start of the college baseball season, the Golden Gophers would often play home games at Metrodome earlier than other teams in the area to neutralize the advantage of warmer-weather schools starting their seasons earlier in the year.

Some early Big Ten conference games are played at Metrodome, and the Golden Gophers take advantage of the home field advantage during the early part of the season before the weather warms, and the Gophers can play games on-campus. Other small colleges also play games in the stadium during the weeks before Metrodome is open for Division I play. In , amateur baseball and softball games—including the majority of the Golden Gophers' home schedule—were played at Metrodome.

The size of Siebert Field also affects the Golden Gophers starting in With Metrodome being available for the tournament starting in , the team could easily place a bid, and have a better possibility of hosting, an NCAA baseball regional or super regional. Other cold-weather teams have played at Metrodome. Big 12 Conference member Kansas has played two series and at Metrodome because of inclement weather against South Dakota State and Eastern Michigan, respectively.

The concert capacity of the Metrodome is around 60, people, depending on seating and stage configurations, which made it an profitable location for stadium tours during the late eighties and nineties.

By comparison, The Target Center in Minneapolis has a concert capacity of up to 20, Development in the Downtown East neighborhood around Metrodome took many years to materialize. For many years there were few bars or restaurants nearby for fans to gather at; tailgating was expressly forbidden in most parking areas. The City of Minneapolis was directing the development of the entertainment districts along Seven corners in Cedar-Riverside , Hennepin Avenue, and the Warehouse district.

Metrodome existed among a number of parking areas built upon old rail yards, along with run-down factories and warehouses. Only in recent years has redevelopment begun moving Southeast to reach Metrodome. More restaurants, hotels, and condominiums have been built nearby. The Hiawatha light rail line has connected the Minneapolis entertainment district with Metrodome. Metrodome is not a true multipurpose stadium. Rather, it was built as a football stadium that can convert into a baseball stadium.

The seating configuration is almost rectangular in shape—something that suits football very well. The seats along the four straight sides directly face their corresponding seats on the opposite side, while the seats in the corners are four quarter-circles. However, in most cases, this resulted in poor sight lines for baseball.

For instance, the seats directly along the left field line faced the center field and right field fences. Unlike other major league parks, there were no seats down to field level. The way that many seats were situated forced some fans to crane their necks to see the area between the pitcher's mound and home plate.

Some fans near the foul poles had to turn more than 80 degrees, compared to less than 70 with the previous Yankee Stadium or 75 degrees at Camden Yards. For that reason, the seats down the left field line were typically among the last ones sold; the less expensive outfield lower deck seating tended to fill up sooner. Nearly 1, seats had obscured or partial visibility to the playing field — some of them due to the right field upper deck being directly above and somewhat overhanging the folded-up football seats behind right field; and some of them due to steel beams in the back rows of the upper deck which are part of the dome's support system.

On the plus side, there was relatively little foul territory, which is not typical of most domed stadiums. Also, with the infield placed near one corner, the seats near home plate and the dugouts, where most game action occurs, had some of the closest views in Major League Baseball. Seats in these areas were popularly known as "the baseball section".

In , some extra rows normally used only for football were retained for baseball, in the area behind home plate. The sight lines were also very good in the right field corner area, which faced the infield and was closer to the action than the left field corner.

The Twins stopped selling most of the seats in sections — of the upper level in This area was curtained off except during the postseason or on occasions when a sellout was anticipated.

As part of the deal with Metrodome, the Minnesota Twins had post-season priority over the Gophers in scheduling. If the Twins were in the playoffs with a home series, the baseball game took priority and the Gopher football game had to be moved to a time suitable to allow the grounds crew to convert the playing field and the stands to the football configuration.

The last month of Major League Baseball's regular season often included one or two Saturdays in which the Twins and Gophers used Metrodome on the same day. Afterward, the conversion took place and the Gophers football game started at about 6 PM. The University of Minnesota was the only school in the Big Ten that shared a football facility with professional sports teams for an extended period of years. In , there were two such schedule conflicts, on September 1 and In , there were no conflicts on the regular-season schedule.

Due to the minimum time needed to convert the field, a baseball game that ran long in clock time had to be suspended, and concluded the next day.

The only time this happened was on October 2, , when a game between the Twins and Indians reached the end of the 11th inning after p. In , the Vikings' home date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scheduled for the same day as Game 2 of the World Series was moved to Tampa, and the Vikings' game with the Denver Broncos scheduled for the same day as Game 7 was pushed back to the following Monday night.

One-game playoffs are normally held the day after the regular season ends in this case, the season ended on Sunday, October 4 , but the Vikings were using Metrodome for Monday Night Football on October 5. The Twins were awarded the right to host the tiebreaker because they won the season series against Detroit.