page_title: Mall of America
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mall of America / History
context_page_description: Mall of America is a large shopping mall in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. The mall is southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the interstate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In the United States, it is the second-largest inside mall in terms of retail space but is largest in terms of total enclosed floor area. Opened in 1992, the mall received 40 million visitors in 2006.
  Triple Five Group, owned by the Ghermezian family of Canada, fully owns and manages the property, and has also owned West Edmonton Mall in Canada.
context_section_description: The mall was designed and built by Triple Five Group, owned by the Ghermezian brothers of Canada, who also own the biggest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall. Mall of America is on the past site of Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened. The teams left Metropolitan Stadium in 1982. A plaque in the amusement park is where home plate used to be in that stadium. One seat from Met Stadium was placed in Mall of America at its exact location (including elevation) in the stadium, to recognize 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. Groundbreaking for the mall took place on June 14, 1989. Organizations involved include Melvin Simon and Associates, Teachers Insurance and Annuity (a.k.a. TIAA), the Triple Five Group, and the office of architect Jon Jerde.
  The mall opened its doors to the public August 11, 1992. Even before opening, Mall of America had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall" (or "The Megamess" during construction), "Sprawl of America", "Hugedale" (in reference to the four major "Dale" shopping malls within the Twin Cities, Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and Brookdale) and, simply, "The Mall".
  It became the second largest shopping mall in total area and largest in total store vendors in the United States when it opened, however, the mall has never been the largest in the world (the West Edmonton Mall, opened in 1991, is larger). Mall of America is 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). The mall employs over 12,000 workers.
  Starting on September 4, 1995, The Mall had an event for live television for the first time. Time-Warner owned professional wrestling company World Championship Wrestling set up in the building for the Inaugural edition of WCW Monday Nitro - also the WCW debut of Lex Luger, under his "The Narcissist" gimmick. This first broadcast on Turner Network Television, along with later editions broadcast from the Mall, would become a well known part of the federation's competition with The World Wrestling Federation.
  During its run as a large entertainment and retail venue, certain aspects-such as-have been criticized and closely looked at. A Mardi Gras themed bar, Fat Tuesdays, shut its doors in early 2000 due to indecent exposure and alcohol related offenses, for ignoring warnings from the mall and Bloomington police to not repeat incidents caught on tape the year before. Following that incident were other problems, such as foot traffic within the Mall after the bars (all on the fourth floor) had closed for the evening. The Mall storefronts were closed, however. The Hooters restaurant, the Cantina #1 restaurant and the Theatres at Mall of America movie theater are the only establishments remaining on the fourth floor.
  In 2003, after a six year legal battle between Simon Property Group, 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 founders. The dispute stemmed from a 1999 purchase of Teacher's Insurance's 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.
  On November 3, 2006, the Ghermezians gained full control of Mall of America, spending US$1 billion to do so.  The ruling cleared the way for Triple Five to begin work on what is being called "Phase II".
caption: One escalator well
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