Memorial Stadium ( University of Minnesota ) Memorial Stadium , also known as the " Brick House , " was an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis . It was the home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team for 58 seasons , from 1924 until 1981 . Before moving to Memorial Stadium in 1924 , the Gophers played at Northrop Field . Starting in 1982 , the Gophers played their home games in the new Hubert H . Humphrey Metrodome , and Memorial Stadium was demolished a decade later . After 27 seasons indoors , the Gophers returned to campus in 2009 at the new TCF Bank Stadium , a block from the site of Memorial Stadium . History . The stadium opened on October 14 , 1924 . It was dedicated to 3527 students , graduates , and workers who served in World War I , which ended six years earlier . The stadium sat on approximately 11 acres ( 45 , 000 m² ) . During that span the team won six national championships including three consecutive ( 1934 – 1936 ) . The championship years were 1934 , 1935 , 1936 , 1940 , 1941 , and 1960 . The official capacity of the stadium during the 1970s was listed as 56 , 652 . The stadium seated approximately 66 , 000 people with additional temporary bleachers , although many of the seats were far away from the field . The stadium ' s attendance record was 66 , 284 , set in 1966 against Purdue on November 18 . Memorial Stadium also served as the university ' s track and field venue , and was an occasional back - up venue for professional football and soccer . In 1969 , the NFL ' s Minnesota Vikings played a regular season game against the Green Bay Packers at Memorial Stadium , due to a conflict with a Minnesota Twins playoff game at Metropolitan Stadium . The Vikings also played a 1971 pre - season game at Memorial . The Minnesota Kicks of the NASL played one game at Memorial Stadium , which was also their last . They played a 1981 playoff game there on September 6 against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and lost 3 - 0 . The game was moved due to a schedule conflict with the Minnesota Twins at Met Stadium . Memorial Stadium served as the anchor for Stadium Village , a small commercial area at the southeast portion of the Twin Cities campus . Move to Metrodome 1982 . Pressured by downtown Minneapolis business interests and athletic boosters , the school elected to move out of the stadium to the new Metrodome , about two miles ( 3 km ) away , during the spring of 1982 . Athletic director Paul Giel cited the advantages of recruiting by playing in a new NFL venue . Also , the attendance was expected to go up in the late fall with protection from harsh weather . The stadium had been neglected by this time , and was badly in need of renovation . New coach Lou Holtz gave an impassioned speech when the time came in 1984 to decide whether to remain at the Metrodome , and declared that " athletes want to play at the Dome . " University Aquatic center . Following the move , the University of Minnesota proposed a new natatorium that would extend into the field at the open end of the horseshoe and ensure that there could be no return to Memorial Stadium . After legal challenges to halt construction of the natatorium failed , the Aquatic Center opened in 1990 and the stadium was torn down two years later . The original brick entrance arch was preserved , and when the McNamara Alumni Center was built on the same site it was installed in the interior atrium over the entrance to a small museum . Aftermath . The move to the Metrodome proved to be disappointing in the long run , as the home games lost the charm of being on a college campus . The Gophers had the lowest priority in scheduling , behind the Twins and Vikings , and had to move games if the Twins were in the baseball playoffs . The university also gave up most concession and parking revenue , although their portion of the rent was the lowest of the three Metrodome tenants . On May 20 , 2006 , the Minnesota state legislature passed a bill providing funding for a new stadium on the university campus , to be named TCF Bank Stadium and completed in the fall of 2009 . The original Memorial Stadium site could not be used , due to the construction of the aquatic and alumni centers . The new stadium is located about a block from where the old stadium once stood , and was designed so that the alumni center on the old site is visible through the open end of the horseshoe .