Metropolitan Stadium Metropolitan Stadium ( often referred to as " the Met " , " the Ice Palace " when the Minnesota Vikings played , " Met Stadium " , or now " the Old Met " to distinguish from the Metrodome ) was a sports stadium that once stood in Bloomington , Minnesota , just outside Minneapolis . The area where the stadium once stood is now the site of the Mall of America . The Minneapolis Millers minor league baseball team played at Met Stadium from 1956 to 1960 . The Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings then played at the " Met " from 1961 to 1981 . The NASL soccer team Minnesota Kicks also played there from 1976 to 1981 . History . Origins and Construction . Beginning in 1953 , inspired by the Boston Braves ' move to Milwaukee , Gerald Moore , the president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce , led the drive to lure a Major League team to Minnesota by constructing a modern stadium . After the rejection of numerous sites , a stadium committee appointed by Moore approved a plot of farmland in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington , Minnesota . The stadium would serve as the new home , replacing Nicollet Park , of the minor league Minneapolis Millers until an MLB team came to Minnesota . After a plan by architects Thorshov & Cerny won approval , groundbreaking was scheduled to begin on June 20 , 1955 . The construction was almost delayed , however , when the owners of the property on which the stadium would be built on began a protest , claiming they had not yet been paid . One of these owners created a barricade of farm equipment along his property line that ran directly through where the stadium ' s infield would be . The dispute was settled in time for the groundbreaking to move forward as planned . Many spectators and dignitaries attended the groundbreaking , including Minneapolis mayor Eric G . Hoyer and several members of the Minneapolis Millers . On February 7 , 1956 , an accident occurred on the construction site when a portable heater used to cure concrete exploded in the stadium ' s basement . After $ 50 , 000 of repairs and a three - week delay in construction , Metropolitan Stadium opened in time to hold its first game , a minor league contest between the Millers and the Wichita Braves on April 24 of that year . ( At the time of its opening , the stadium still lacked an official name ; the park was not named until a July announcement declaring it " Metropolitan Stadium " . ) In the 1950s , major league owners Calvin Griffith and Horace Stoneham called the stadium the finest facility in the minors ; Stoneham added that " there were not two better " major league stadiums of the time ( although not specifying which specific two he thought were the Met ' s equal ) Indeed , the Met ' s primary purpose was to attract a big - league team to the area . The Millers were then the top farm team of Stoneham ' s New York Giants , and there was some hope or expectation that the Giants might relocate there . Under major league rules of the time , the Giants had priority rights to a major league team in the Twin Cities . Negotiations were also held with the Cincinnati Reds , Cleveland Indians , Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators . However , the Giants chose to follow the Brooklyn Dodgers to the west coast . San Francisco had long been home to the Pacific Coast League ' s San Francisco Seals , the top farm team of the Boston Red Sox . As part of the deal , the Millers ' parent team then became the Red Sox , who had no plan to move anywhere . Multiple exhibition games featuring Major League teams were held at the Met at this time ; a game between the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds was held at the Met in 1957 , and a matchup between the Senators and the Philadelphia Phillies was held shortly after the 1958 All - Star break . The latter game brought 15 , 990 fans to the stadium , including Calvin Griffith , who described the stadium as " terrific . " Baseball and football . In 1961 , Calvin Griffith announced the move of the Washington Senators to Minnesota to become the Twins . The Twins played their first home game on April 21 , with a loss to the new Washington Senators . The Millers and their perennial crosstown rival St . Paul Saints were then promptly folded by Major League Baseball . An increase in capacity was then needed to house a major league team , with $ 9 million being spent to increase the seating capacity from about 22 , 000 to over 30 , 000 by the completion of the Twins ' inaugural season . During the Twins ' first ten seasons at the Met , they outdrew the average American League team each year . The National Football League ( NFL ) was also interested in placing a team at the Met . Conversations were had with Viola Wolfner , owner of the Chicago Cardinals , about moving his team to the stadium . The Cardinals moved two of their home games against the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles to Bloomington for the 1959 NFL season . A preseason football game was held each year at the Met from 1956 to 1960 . The Twins were joined at the Met in the fall of 1961 by an NFL expansion team , the Minnesota Vikings . The Met was often considered a substandard venue for football . The gridiron ran from around third base to right field , with barely enough room to fit the playing field and end zones . Wooden bleachers were brought onto the field during football season to bring fans closer to the game . For 1965 , a large double - decked grandstand was installed in left field to replace the temporary wooden bleachers . The left - field grandstand was actually paid for by the Vikings in return for reduced rent ; this location was prime sideline seating in the football configuration . This left the Met with the unique configuration of a double deck in left field , and bleachers behind third base . The big left field stand was originally planned to be capable of sliding toward or away from the gridiron ( as Denver ' s Mile High Stadium later would be ) , but that part of the project was never realized . The park had a skeletal feel , and it was obvious that it had once been a minor league baseball stadium . For instance , fans in the bleachers literally had to leave the stadium to get to the grandstand because the bleachers did not exist when the stadium was originally built . Unlike most multipurpose stadiums built during this time , there were very few bad seats for baseball . The stadium was built using cantilever construction for the overhanging decks , eliminating posts that blocked the fans ' view . It was well - known as a hitter ' s park ; its short foul lines — 343 to left , 330 to right — were particularly friendly to pull hitters such as Harmon Killebrew . The marker in right was actually closer to right - center , leading to speculation that right field was even closer . Since the Met was built in 1956 , however , this would not have been a problem for the Twins ; baseball required all parks built after 1958 to have foul lines of at least . The Met provided an overwhelming home - field advantage for the Vikings late in the season and in the playoffs due to Minnesota ' s famously cold temperatures . The Vikings played 10 playoff games at the Met and lost only three of them . In 1965 , both the Major League All - Star Game and the World Series were played at Metropolitan Stadium , one of the few times that coincidence has happened since the former event was inaugurated in 1933 . ( Game 7 of that year ' s world series drew 50 , 596 fans to the Met , the only time a baseball crowd exceeded 50 , 000 and the biggest - ever attendance for baseball at the stadium . ) The Vikings hosted the 1969 NFL Championship Game at the stadium . Soccer and other events . Metropolitan Stadium was the home of the Minnesota Kicks soccer team from 1976 until the team folded in November 1981 . The Kicks , members of the North American Soccer League , were highly anticipated in Minnesota and had to delay their first game at the Met by fifteen minutes to accommodate the large crowd waiting to buy tickets . To help speed things along , the Kicks ' owners let two thousand fans enter the stadium for free . An NASL attendance record was set one month later , when Pélé and the New York Cosmos drew 46 , 164 fans to Metropolitan Stadium . Large crowds continued for the Kicks , who drew 41 , 505 for that year ' s opening playoff game . Four days later , another record was set when 49 , 571 fans came to see the Kicks defeat San Jose , 3 - 1 . The team enjoyed great success in their first four seasons in Minnesota , winning a division title each year . Attendance dipped toward the end of the franchise ' s history , however , with an average of 16 , 605 per game in 1981 , their final season . The Met also hosted multiple concerts . On August 21 , 1965 , The Beatles played in front of 25 , 000 frenzied fans as part of their 1965 North American Tour . On August 1 , 1978 , a concert featuring the Eagles , the Steve Miller Band , and Pablo Cruise drew a stadium - record 65 , 000 fans . The Allman Brothers Band played the Met on June 24 , 1979 . Numerous wrestling matches were held at Metropolitan Stadium , including contests featuring Hard Boiled Haggerty , Bob Geigel , Wilbur Snyder , Kay Noble , Lord Littlebrook , Verne Gagne , Gene Kiniski , Rene Goulet , Larry Hennig , Hans Schmidt , Mad Dog Vachon and Dick the Bruiser . Final years and demise . The Met ' s fate was essentially sealed when , as part of the AFL - NFL Merger , the NFL declared that stadiums smaller than 50 , 000 were inadequate for its needs ; the Met only seated 48 , 700 for football . However , the Vikings would not even consider playing at the University of Minnesota ' s Memorial Stadium , and demanded a brand - new stadium as a condition of staying in town . At one point , the city of Bloomington had plans to place a dome over Metropolitan Stadium , or build a new football stadium located between the Met and the Met Center , which had opened in 1967 just north of the Met . Since football - only stadiums were not seen as viable at the time , the Twins decided not to renew their lease at the Met after the 1981 season . This accelerated the push for construction of a new stadium , the Hubert H . Humphrey Metrodome , which was completed in 1981 . However , it is very likely that a new stadium would have been needed in any event , as the Met was not well maintained . By the park ' s final season , railings in the grandstand ' s third deck had become a major safety hazard . Additionally , players had begun to complain about the quality of the field ; the infield in particular was considered the worst in the majors . Rumors abounded that the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission , which by then had taken over the stadium from the city of Minneapolis , had deliberately let the Met go to seed in order to aid the push for the Metrodome . The Minnesota Kicks ' last regular season game at Met Stadium was a 2 - 1 victory over the Dallas Tornado on August 19 , 1981 . The team ' s last game at the Met was a 1 - 0 shoot out play off victory against the Tulsa Roughnecks on August 26 , 1981 . The team ' s last game played was a home playoff loss 3 - 0 to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on September 6 , 1981 . The game was moved to the University of Minnesota ' s Memorial Stadium due to a scheduling conflict with the Twins . The Twins played their last game at the Met on September 30 , 1981 , losing to the Kansas City Royals 5 - 2 on a rainy afternoon . The night before the final game , home plate was stolen , and after the final game ended , hundreds of fans gathered on the field , searching ( mostly unsuccessfully ) for mementos . Finishing the trifecta , the Vikings played their last game on December 20 , 1981 , dropping a 10 - 6 decision to the Kansas City Chiefs . Fans , sensing that this was the final game of " any " sort at the stadium , were more determined to claim souvenirs . In preparation , the Vikings tripled their security force for the contest . In the game ' s final minutes , many of the 41 , 110 fans in attendance began dismantling seats and bleachers , and thousands stormed the field once the game ended . The goal posts were torn down , pieces of sod from the field were dug up , and speakers and lightbulbs on the scoreboard were removed . Hundreds of injuries were reported , mostly minor scrapes and bruises but also multiple head injuries sustained during the melee . Met Stadium was officially abandoned when the Vikings and the Twins moved to the Metrodome in January 1982 and the Kicks folded after the 1981 soccer season . For the next three years , Met Stadium sat unused , decaying and highly vandalized . Demolition kickoff for Metropolitan Stadium started on January 28 , 1985 and continued for the next four months . After the rubble was cleared , the lot sat vacant for several years , although the nearby Met Center continued to provide entertainment for hockey fans . After the Met . The Mall of America , which opened in 1992 , stands on the site of what is now nostalgically called " the " Old " Met . " A brass plaque in the shape of home plate , embedded in the floor in the northwest corner of Nickelodeon Universe , commemorates the site ' s days as a sports venue by marking where home plate once sat . Near the opposite corner , mounted high on the wall , is a red stadium chair denoting the precise landing spot ( including elevation ) of Harmon Killebrew ' s home run , a blast to the upper deck in deep left - center field on June 3 , 1967 . This was the longest homer Killebrew ever hit , and the longest ever hit in Metropolitan Stadium . Unlike the chair at the Mall , the Met ' s outfield seating featured green bleacher - style benches . For a time , there was talk of building a new park for the Twins on the old Met site that would be connected to the Mall of America . However , the terms of the agreement in which the land was sold to Triple Five Group , owners of the Mall of America , do not allow another stadium from being built on the site . Even without this to consider , the site is now directly in a flight path for Minneapolis - St . Paul International Airport . The old flagpole at the stadium was purchased by the local American Legion post when the stadium was razed . The pole was sold back to the Twins and restored in ; it was then placed in the plaza at Target Field . Photo gallery : abandonment . A series of photographs , taken in the mid 1980s during Metropolitan Stadium ' s abandonment .