As enthusiasm for professional sports grew in Minnesota during the mid-twentieth century, Metropolitan Stadium, designed for baseball, became too small and had too few amenities to continue to attract professional teams. By the early 1970s, Minnesota's teams, seeking greater profits, began to demand a bigger and better venue. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ("The Dome"), a covered, multi-purpose stadium built in downtown Minneapolis, served this purpose for thirty-one years.
In 1973, a Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce Stadium Task Force studied options for a new facility. The city of Bloomington made its case for keeping the stadium there. State legislators, however, were reluctant to approve financing; they felt taxpayers would be unwilling to pay for a new ballpark.
The threat of the Twins and Vikings leaving Minnesota when their use agreements expired in 1975 prompted the legislature to reconsider the project. In 1977, State Representative Al Patton (DFL-Sartell) sponsored a no-site stadium bill. The bill authorized Governor Rudy Perpich to appoint a seven-member Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC) to choose a location and design for a new stadium. The commission had three options: to spend up to $25 million to remodel Met Stadium for all sports; to spend up to $37.5 million to remodel it for baseball and build a new football stadium adjacent to it; or to spend up to $55 million to build a domed stadium in a new location.
The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce Stadium Task Force created the Industry Square Development Corporation, which purchased a twenty-acre site on the east side of downtown Minneapolis for $14.5 million. The site strengthened the city's bid for the stadium.
The MSFC fielded eight proposals for the new facility. In December 1978, the commission voted 4–3 to approve the Minneapolis downtown site.
The architectural firms of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Setter, Leach & Lindstrom, Inc. won the building design contract. The engineering firm of Geiger Berger Associates designed the roof. Construction began in December 1979; 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, 1981, 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.
The completed structure, financed through bond sales and hospitality taxes, cost $55 million. Officials named the stadium in honor of former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an avid sports fan.
On April 6, 1982, the Twins played their first regular season game inside the Metrodome against the Seattle Mariners. The Vikings’ first indoor season opened September 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Metrodome hosted many premier events, including the 1985 All-Star Game and, on October 17, 1987, the first World Series game ever played indoors. The Dome will always be associated with the Twins' 1987 and 1991 World Series wins. The Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team played their 1989–1990 inaugural season there. The Dome welcomed Super Bowl XXVI and two National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four basketball tournaments.
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 1991 closed outdoor fields. Rollerbladers, runners, and walkers took advantage of the stadium's concourse during the winter months.
The Metrodome served as a music venue for concerts by Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, and many others. It became a movie set in 1993 for the film "Little Big League."
By the late 1990s, the multi-purpose Metrodome no longer met the needs of Minnesota's professional teams. The Twins played their last game on October 11, 2009, against the Yankees, moving to Target Field the following season. In 2009, the MSFC and the Vikings agreed to name the field, "Mall of America Field." The Vikings won their last game at the Dome on December 29, 2013, against the Detroit Lions. Crews demolished the Metrodome in 2014 to make way for U.S. Bank Stadium.