Mall of America/Met Center Ballpark Site

North of the Mall of America, Bloomington

Aerial View 

There's no concept photo yet, but this is one terrific idea! I've been telling my friends that this would be the perfect spot for a new park ever since they blew up the old Met Center hockey arena which once stood there. All of the infrastructure has already been updated to accommodate traffic to the biggest shopping mall in the country (it may be hard to believe, but there are plenty of tourists flying into town just to drop some money at this place). This includes expanded freeway connections, large intersections with multiple turn lanes, huge parking ramps, many large hotels, and lots of room to spread out (and tailgate). The new light rail line will flow right by here, with its final stop right on the mall's east side. It's almost as if the place has been cultivated for this opportunity in secret for years.

Publicly, the city of Bloomington has said they have no interest in a new stadium. Their approach is basically "been there, done that." And the owners of the Mall of America have publicly announced plans to expand onto this site with a high-tech entertainment/hotel mega-something. This concept has always been a bit vague, and might be hampered by the height limits placed on buildings in this area -- which is right at the south end of a new runway at the airport.

But here's why there's hope: Sid Hartman thinks there's hope. He's written about the site in two sucessive Star Tribune columns now:

May 26, 2002

The real sleeper for the site of the Twins baseball stadium might be
Bloomington, right near where the old Metropolitan Stadium stood.

That land is owned by the Megamall and is being used for parking.

The stadium financing bill signed last week by Gov. Jesse Ventura gives
the city of Minneapolis or St. Paul the right to work with another city
in getting a ballpark.

With the light-rail transit operating from the Mall of America to and
from downtown Minneapolis, there could be several benefits for both
cities if the ballpark were in Bloomington. And there certainly would
be many more benefits than if the ballpark were located in St. Paul.

One can only imagine how the ballpark and the Mall of America would
complement each other.

However, the Minneapolis business delegation has not given up on
getting the ballpark built behind Target Center. If a ballpark
referendum passed in Minneapolis, it would eliminate the $10 million
limit that the city can spend on a stadium.

But the big problem in Minneapolis is that downtown bar and restaurant
tabs already carry a 13.5 percent tax on weekends and officials don't
want to add to that.

Bloomington, however, could handle such a tax without any problem. And
with all of the hotels along Interstate Hwy. 494 and the airport
located in Bloomington the site near the Mall would be a natural fit.

Two days later:

May 30, 2002

Meanwhile, it's possible the Simon brothers, who control the Mall of
America, might have some interest in having a stadium built on the
land north of the mall.

A survey some time ago revealed there would be a lack of parking for
a baseball stadium on the mall site. However, it seems the mall could
use more parking places and some parking ramps could serve both.

Certainly the mall would benefit from the large baseball crowds.

So now I'm dreaming of a park which pays homage to Met Stadium, perhaps by adopting its southeast orientation and the detailing around home plate. Maybe even structure the stands in a similar fashion (epsecially bringing back the see-through fence in left field) only under a retractable glass roof.

You don't have to tell me how unlikely that is, or impractical it may be. Just let me dream a little...