page_title: Bloomington, Minnesota
section_title: 1960s to 1970s
hierarchical_section_title: Bloomington, Minnesota / History / 1960s to 1970s
caption_attribution_description: English: Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota
context_page_description: Bloomington is the fifth largest city, as of 2018 estimates, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Hennepin County on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River. Bloomington lies 10 miles south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2010 census the city's population was 82,893, and in 2019 the estimated population was 84,943.
  Established as a post–World War II housing boom suburb connected to the urban street grid of Minneapolis and serviced by two major freeways, Interstate 35W and Interstate 494, Bloomington's residential areas include upper-tier households in the western Bush Lake area and traditional middle-class families in its rows of single-family homes in the central to eastern portions. Large-scale commercial development is concentrated along the Interstate 494 corridor.
  Besides an extensive city park system, with over 1,000 square feet of parkland per capita, Bloomington is also home to Hyland Lake Park Reserve in the west and Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the southeast.
context_section_description: The 1960s saw accelerated school and business growth throughout the city.  On November 8, 1960, Bloomington officially became a city as voters approved the city's organizing document, the City Charter.  The city charter provides for a Council-Manager form of government in which the city council exercises the legislative power of the city and determines all city policies (see City of Bloomington Government).  In 1965, a second high school was built, John F. Kennedy High School and Bloomington High School was renamed Abraham Lincoln High School. In 1967, a second and third official fire station were approved and built to more effectively combat fires in the increasingly large city.  In 1968, Normandale State Junior College opened with an initial enrollment of 1,358 students.  In 1974, it changed to its present name, Normandale Community College, to reflect expanded courses of study.
  From 1961 to 1981, the city of Bloomington was home to most of the major sports teams of Minnesota.  In 1961, after the completion of Metropolitan Stadium in 1956, both the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings began regular-season play.  Although Metropolitan Stadium was originally built for the American Association Minneapolis Millers, a minor league baseball team, Metropolitan Stadium was renovated and expanded for Major League Baseball and the National Football League.  The first Twins game was held on April 21 (Washington 5, Twins 3) and the first Vikings game was held on September 17 (Vikings 37, Chicago Bears 13). On August 21, 1965, The Beatles played Metropolitan Stadium, their only stop ever in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area. In 1967, with the expansion of the National Hockey League, the Metropolitan Sports Center was built near the site of the Metropolitan Stadium and the Minnesota North Stars began play later that year.
  A number of new city buildings were constructed in the 1970s.  In 1970, Thomas Jefferson High School, Bloomington Ice Garden rink one, and a fourth fire station were built.  In 1971, school enrollment peaked with 26,000 students, and the fire department had grown to a force of 105 men.  (In 1974, after a six-hour city council meeting, women were allowed to join the Bloomington Fire Department, but the city's first female firefighter, Ann Majerus Meyer, would not join the department until 1984; she retired in 2013).  In 1975 a second rink was added to the Bloomington Ice Garden and a fifth fire station built, and subsequently a sixth in 1979.
caption: Owned by the City of Minneapolis but located in Bloomington, major league teams played at the Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 until 1981. It was demolished in 1985 to make room for the Mall of America.
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