The Mall's concept was designed by Triple Five Group, owned by the Ghermezian brothers of who also own the biggest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall. Mall of America is located on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened. The teams left Met Stadium in 1982. A plaque in the amusement park commemorates the former location of home plate. One seat from Met Stadium was placed in Mall of America at the exact location (including elevation) it occupied in the stadium, to commemorate a 520-foot (160 m) home run hit by hall-of-famer Harmon Killebrew on June 3, 1967
In 1986, The Bloomington Port Authority signed an agreement with the Ghermezian organization. Groundbreaking for the Mall took place on June 14, 1989. Organizations involved include Melvin Simon and Associates, Teachers Insurance and Annuity (a.k.a. TIAA), the Triple Five Group, and the office of architect Jon Jerde.
The Mall opened its doors to the public August 11, 1992. Even before opening, Mall of America had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall" (or "The Megamess" during construction), "Sprawl of America", "Hugedale" (in reference to the four major "Dale" shopping malls within the Twin Cities, Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and now-defunct (as of 2010) Brookdale) and, simply, "The Mall".
It became the second largest shopping mall in total area and largest in total store vendors in the United States when it opened. Mall of America is the most visited shopping mall in the world with more than 40 million visitors annually (or roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota). The Mall employs over 12,000 workers.
During its run as an all-encompassing entertainment and retail venue, certain aspects - most notably bars - have come under scrutiny. A Mardi Gras themed bar, Fat Tuesdays, shut its doors in early 2000 due to indecent exposure and alcohol-related offenses, for ignoring warnings from the Mall and Bloomington police to not repeat incidents caught on tape the year before. Following that verdict there were other problems, such as foot traffic within the Mall after the bars (all located on the fourth floor) had closed for the evening.
In 2003, after a protracted six-year legal battle between Simon Property Group, the managing general partner of the property, and the Ghermezian brothers/Triple Five Group, over majority ownership of the site, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Ghermezians, effectively transferring control and planning authority of the Mall back to its original conceptualizer.The dispute stemmed from a 1999 purchase of Teacher's Insurance's 27.5% equity stake by Simon Properties, giving them majority ownership. The Ghermezians claimed they were never told of the deal and sued Simon, citing fiduciary responsibility.
On November 3, 2006, the Ghermezians gained full control of Mall of America, spending US$1 billion to do so.
Mall of America Phase II concept
The Mall of America is planned to be expanded with the construction of Phase II. It will develop a large, empty parcel of land (the former home of the Met Center indoor arena) north of the mall and integrate an IKEA store built on a portion of the property in 2004. The project also includes a dinner theatre, ice rink, three hotels, and a waterpark; similar in design to the West Edmonton Mall. The cost of expansion is $2.1 billion, and will double the mall's size with a 5,200,000-square-foot (480,000 m2) extension.
MOA has signed contracts to bring in Great Wolf Resorts as the waterpark operator, as well as Bass Pro Shops and a Kimpton Hotel.The expansion section will connect to the mall on all four levels, and an adjacent IKEA store via a second level bridge. There will be an NHL-sized ice rink for public & private skating. There will also be an additional parking ramp, adding 8,000 parking spaces. There will also be fine art exhibits planned in the expansion,and two upscale department stores. Another plan that was in the works would have seen fashions, architecture, and restaurants based after Europe.
On May 18, 2008, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill granting the city of Bloomington the right to raise property and sales taxes to pay for the MOA expansion. Construction of an expansion has begun, in early 2011, on the south side of the mall near Killebrew Drive, where a 500-room hotel, the Radisson Blu, will open in March 2013.
On 29 November 2011 Google announced indoor maps for Mall of America along with several other places like airports, parks and public spaces.
On March 24, 2012, The Triple Five Group officially announced the start of a $200,000,000 expansion that would build into the north parking lot of the mall. Rather than the long planned Phase II expansion, this would be a step in building this expansion. The initial plans call for an additional hotel and an additional 200,000 square feet of retail space.A Mayo Clinic Wellness Center was also planned, though the company
announced that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would cause these plans to be cancelled, as related planning would not have been completed in time for the construction deadline.
In winter 2012-2013, Mall of America hosted a 40 feet tall ice castle made of icicles formed from 4 million gallons of water and then fused together. The castle joined 50 large ice towers together to create a series of shimmering archways, tunnels, walls and caverns
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