When was metrodome built

To help reduce the number of empty seats, a foot long curtain was added to cover many of the seats that were in the upper deck in right field. After the season, the Astroturf was removed from the Metrodome and replaced with Fieldturf. For more than a decade, beginning in the mid s, the Twins began trying to get a new ballpark built.

In May , the State of Minnesota approved financing for construction of a new ballpark. Constructed in downtown Minneapolis, Target Field opened in April Metrodome Pictures. Metrodome, was completed in just over two years. Over 64, seats in two tiers circled the entire field when the Metrodome was in football configuration.

When the Vikings shared the Metrodome with the Twins, it was one of the easiest stadiums to be converted from baseball to football. The entire process only took around four hours. A section of 7, retractable seats formed the 23 foot high right field wall during a baseball game. However, theses seats were pulled out, allowing the capacity to be increased during football games. The dome roof consisted of over ten acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass. Different types of artificial turf have been installed since then and the problem has lessened.

Despite the complaints about the Metrodome, its tenure as the home of the Twins and Vikings has exceeded that of Metropolitan Stadium and has been the site of a number of significant events in baseball and football:. The Twins won that World Series, against the St. They reached that mark on a home run by Claudell Washington at the Metrodome on April 20, Ripken also played in his 2,th consecutive game at the Metrodome August 1, College, high-school, and other amateur teams frequently use the Metrodome for games.

The Minnesota Gophers schedule many of their early-season games for the Metrodome and sometimes during poor weather have shifted games from Siebert Field, their normal home, to the Metrodome. Amateur teams have often taken the field after Twins games, sometimes playing into the early hours of the next day. Besides the Vikings and Gophers, the Metrodome has hosted many small-college and high-school football games.

In , less than a week after the Twins won the World Series, record snowfalls hit the area. Football fields across Minnesota were covered with snow, and, over the next few weeks, 73 high-school games were relocated to the Metrodome. The Metrodome has hosted many basketball games, including two National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four tournaments, in and The Minnesota Timberwolves used the Metrodome as their home during their inaugural season of , as a new arena was being built for them.

The Timberwolves set an NBA attendance record during their season in the Metrodome, although, as the Twins had done to sell enough tickets to reach the 3-million mark in , the Timberwolves orchestrated a sales blitz of deeply discounted tickets in order to reach the level needed to break the previous record.

The cause of fly balls being lost in the roof has often been attributed to the roof being white, which causes a white ball to blend into it. However, the ball actually shows up as a dark spot to a fielder looking up at it with the translucent roof as a background. During the day, this dark spot was easier to pick up as the translucent roof remained light. At night, however, the roof darkened and tracking fly balls became a treacherous activity.

The stadium commission eventually installed lights that illuminated the roof at night, which ameliorated the problem but did not totally eliminate it. The ball went through a vent hole in the roof, and, by the ground rules of the Metrodome, Kingman was awarded a double. Another myth concerns the only postponement to date at the Metrodome.

The first time this happened was in November of , before the Metrodome opened. The Twins had a game scheduled against the California Angels at the Metrodome on Thursday night that was postponed because of the storm. Late Thursday evening, a chunk of ice tore a foot gap in the roof of the Metrodome, causing it to deflate. The roof collapse is often given as the reason for the postponement. The Angels had taken an overnight flight from California and arrived over the Twin Cities at about on Thursday morning.

The plane was unable to land and was diverted to Chicago, where the Angels spent the day. Construction began in December ; Minnesota workers performed most of the labor.

The ten-acre, air-supported domed roof took four months to build. Crews inflated it for the first time on October 2, , using twenty ninety-horsepower fans. Made of two layers of woven fiberglass fabric separated by a cushion of air, the Teflon-coated roof proved to be no match for the heavy snow and ice of Minnesota's winters.

It collapsed four times, the first just six weeks after its completion. Officials named the stadium in honor of former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an avid sports fan. On April 6, , the Twins played their first regular season game inside the Metrodome against the Seattle Mariners. The Metrodome hosted many premier events, including the All-Star Game and, on October 17, , the first World Series game ever played indoors.

The Dome will always be associated with the Twins' and World Series wins. The Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team played their — inaugural season there. Local college and high school athletes also played at the Metrodome. The University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers played football, baseball, and softball there.

Many high school games moved to the Dome when the Halloween Blizzard of closed outdoor fields. Rollerbladers, runners, and walkers took advantage of the stadium's concourse during the winter months. It became a movie set in for the film "Little Big League. By the late s, the multi-purpose Metrodome no longer met the needs of Minnesota's professional teams. The Twins played their last game on October 11, , against the Yankees, moving to Target Field the following season. Crews demolished the Metrodome in to make way for U.

Bank Stadium. Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Baseball Almanac. ESPN Baseball. Klobuchar, Amy. Minneapolis: Bolger Publishing, Mona, Dave, comp. Minneapolis: MSP Publications, Mason, Tyler. Humphrey Metrodome: — Minnesota Legislature. Metrodome History. The Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Laws of Minnesota for Chapter Humphrey Metrodome Concert Setlists. Thornley, Stew. Society for American Baseball Research.