Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The football playing field has been known as Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome since October 2009. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. The Metrodome is home to the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings, and the Big Ten's University of Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team. The stadium was also the home of the Minnesota Twins from 1982 to 2009 and the Golden Gophers football team from 1982 to 2008. The stadium is the ninth oldest stadium in the National Football League. Locally, its nickname is The Dome. The stadium has a fiberglass fabric roof that is self-supported by air-pressure, the second major sports facility to have this feature (the first being the Pontiac Silverdome). The Metrodome is similar in design to BC Place Stadium and the RCA Dome. It was reputedly the inspiration for the Tokyo Dome.

History
By the early 1970s, the Minnesota Vikings were unhappy with Metropolitan Stadium's relatively small capacity for football (just under 48,500). Before the AFL-NFL merger, the NFL had declared that stadiums smaller than 50,000 capacity were not adequate for their needs. The biggest stadium in the area was the University of Minnesota's Memorial Stadium, but the Vikings were not willing to be tenants in a college football stadium and demanded a new venue. Supporters of a dome also believed that the Minnesota Twins would benefit from a climate-controlled stadium to insulate the team from harsh Minnesota weather later in the season. The Met would have likely needed replacing in any event, as it was not well maintained. Broken railings and seats could be spotted in the third deck by the early 1970s. Construction success of other domed stadiums, particularly the Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit, paved the way for voters to approve funding for a new stadium. Downtown Minneapolis was beginning a revitalization program, and the return of professional sports from suburban Bloomington was seen as a major success story. A professional team hadn't been based in downtown Minneapolis since the Minneapolis Lakers left for Los Angeles in 1960. Construction on the Metrodome began on December 20, 1979 and was funded by a limited hotel-motel and liquor tax, local business donations, and payments established within a special tax district near the stadium site. Uncovering the Dome by Amy Klobuchar (now a U.S. Senator) describes the ten-year effort to build the venue. The stadium was named in memory of former mayor of Minneapolis, U.S. Senator and U.S. Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, who had died in 1978. The Metrodome cost $68 million to build"roughly $2 million under budget, a rarity for modern stadiums. It is a somewhat utilitarian facility, though not quite as spartan as Metropolitan Stadium. One stadium official once said that all the Metrodome was designed to do was "get fans in, let 'em see a game, and let 'em go home." The first grand slam was hit by Dave Weiser of Saint Thomas Academy vs Washburne High School in 1982. The 1985 MLB All-Star Game, several games of the 1987 and the 1991 World Series, Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, and the 1998-99 NFC Championship all were held at the Metrodome. The NCAA Final Four was held at the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001. Duke University was the winner on both occasions. The Metrodome has also served as one of the four regional venues for the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship in 1986, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2006 and most recently, 2009 . The dome has also held first and second round games in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in addition to regionals and the Final Four, most recently in 2009. The Metrodome is the only venue to host a MLB All-Star Game (1985), a Super Bowl ( 1992), an NCAA Final Four ( 1992 & 2001), and a World Series ( 1987 & 1991). It has been recognized as one of the loudest domed venues in which to view a game, due in part to the fact that sound is recycled throughout the stadium because of the domed roof. Stadium loudness is a hot sports marketing issue, as the noise lends the home team a home advantage against the visiting team. The Metrodome is the loudest domed NFL stadium. During the 1987 World Series and 1991 World Series, peak decibel levels were measured at 125 and 118 respectively comparable to a jet airliner"both close to the threshold of pain.

Career-achievement events

• The Metrodome was the scene of several players joining the 3000 hit club, including Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, and Cal Ripken, Jr.
• The Metrodome was the site of Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett's 99 yard run, on January 3, 1983 the longest run from scrimmage in NFL history, in a Monday night game that was won by the Minnesota Vikings.
• Dwyane Wade recorded just the fourth triple double in NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament history on March 29, 2003.
• On June 28, 2007, in the top of the first inning, Frank Thomas hit a three-run home run to left-center against Carlos Silva for his 500th career home run. He was later ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
• On September 30, 2007, Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers threw his record-breaking 421st career touchdown pass to Greg Jennings while playing the Vikings at the Metrodome.
• On November 4, 2007, Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers returned a 57-yard field goal attempt, which was short, 109 yards for a touchdown, which became the longest play in NFL history. In the same game, Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, had 30 carries for an NFL single-game record 296 rushing yards, along with three touchdowns.
• On November 30, 2008, against the Chicago Bears, Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian, tying an NFL record for longest pass.
• On July 28, 2009, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle broke the MLB record for consecutive batters retired. The record was 41; Buehrle retired 45 in a row.
• On October 5, 2009, with a 30-23 victory over the Green Bay Packers, his former team, Brett Favre of the Vikings became the first quarterback in NFL history to defeat each of the league's 32 franchises.

Features
Since the stadium was built, the economics of sports marketing have changed. Teams are charging higher prices for tickets, and are demanding more amenities, such as bigger clubhouses and locker rooms, more luxury suites, and more concession revenue. To that end, pressure has been applied by team owners, media, and fans to have the State of Minnesota provide newer, better facilities to host the teams. The Metrodome has served its primary purpose, to provide a climate-controlled facility in which to host the three sports tenants in Minnesota with the largest attendance. The indoor venue is particularly welcome in the highly variable climate of Minnesota. The Metrodome was widely thought of as a hitter's park, with a low (7 ft) left-field fence (343 ft) that favored right-handed power hitters, and the higher (23 ft) but closer (327 ft) right-field Baggie that favored left-handed power hitters. Because the roof is very nearly the same color as a baseball, and transmits light, the Metrodome had a far higher error incidence than a normal stadium during day games, so instead of losing a fly ball in the sun, as is common for non-roofed stadiums, fly balls could easily get lost in the ceiling. Unlike most parks built during this time, the Metrodome's baseball configuration had asymmetrical outfield dimensions. It gave up even more home runs before air conditioning was installed in 1983. Before 1983, the Dome had been nicknamed "the Sweat Box." The Metrodome is climate controlled, and has protected the baseball schedule during the entire time it was the venue for the Minnesota Twins. Major League Baseball schedulers had the luxury of being able to count on dates played at the Metrodome. Doubleheader games only occurred when purposely scheduled. The last time that happened was when the Twins scheduled a day-night doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals on August 31, 2007. The doubleheader was necessitated after an August 2 game vs. Kansas City was postponed one day after the I-35W Bridge collapse in downtown Minneapolis.

The roof
The Metrodome's air-supported roof was designed by the inventor of air-supported structures, David H. Geiger, through his New York-based Geiger Berger Associates, and manufactured and installed by Birdair Structures. An air-supported structure supported by positive air pressure, it requires 250,000 ft³/min (120 m³/s) of air to keep it inflated. The air pressure is supplied by twenty 90-horsepower fans. The roof is made of two layers: the outer layers are Teflon coated fiberglass and the inner is a proprietary acoustical fabric. By design, the dead air space between the layers insulates the roof; in winter, warm air is blown into the space between layers to help melt snow that has accumulated on top. At the time it was built, the 10 acres (4.0 ha) of fabric made the roof the largest expanse ever done in that manner. The outside Teflon membrane is 1/32 of an inch thick and the inner liner of woven fiberglass is 1/64th of an inch thick. The entire roof weighs roughly 580,000 pounds. It reaches 195 feet (59 m), or about 16 stories, at its highest point. To prevent roof tears like those that occurred in its first years of service, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission adopted a twofold strategy to prevent future occurrences: When snow accumulation was expected, hot air was pumped into the space between the roof's two layers. Workers also climbed on the roof and used steam and high-powered hot-water hoses to melt snow. In addition, before the storm that caused the December 2010 collapse, the inside of the stadium was heated to nearly 80 °F (26.7 °C). To maintain the differential air pressure, spectators usually enter and leave the seating and concourse areas through revolving doors, since the use of regular doors without an airlock would cause significant loss of air pressure. The double-walled construction allows warmed air to circulate beneath the top of the dome, melting accumulated snow. A sophisticated environmental control center in the lower part of the stadium is manned to monitor weather and make adjustments in air distribution to maintain the roof. Because it is unusually low to the playing field, the air-inflated dome occasionally figured into game action. Major League Baseball had specific ground rules for the Metrodome. Any ball which struck the Dome roof, or objects hanging from it, remained in play; if it landed in foul territory it became a foul ball, if it landed in fair territory it became a fair ball. Any ball which became caught in the roof over fair ground was a ground rule double. That has only happened three times in its history - Dave Kingman for the Oakland Athletics on May 4, 1984, University of Minnesota Gophers player George Behr and Corey Koskie in 2004. The speakers, being closer to the playing surface, were hit more frequently, especially the speakers in foul ground near the infield, which were typically hit several times a season, which posed an extra challenge to infielders trying to catch them. However, beginning with the 2005 season, the ground rules for Twins games were changed such that any batted ball that struck a speaker in foul territory would automatically be called a foul ball, regardless of whether or not it was caught. The roof is high enough that it has never been a concern for events other than baseball. Early roof incidents Five times in the stadium's history, heavy snows or other weather conditions have significantly damaged the roof and in four instances caused it to deflate. Four of the five incidents had occurred within the stadium's first five years of operation: On November 19, 1981, a rapid accumulation of over a foot of snow caused the roof to collapse, requiring it to be re-inflated. It deflated the following winter on December 30, 1982, again because of a tear caused by heavy snow. This was four days before the Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in the last regular season game of the 1982 NFL season. In the spring following that same winter, on April 14, 1983, the Metrodome roof deflated because of a tear caused by a late-season heavy snow, and the scheduled Twins' game with the California Angels was postponed. On April 26, 1986, the Metrodome roof suffered a slight tear because of high winds, causing a nine-minute delay in the bottom of the seventh inning versus the Angels; however the roof did not deflate. 2010 inspection Birdair had conducted a regular inspection of the Metrodome roof in April 2010. Its report to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission stated that "the outer membrane is in good condition and still holding up well," and rated the inner liner's condition as "fair to poor". The inspectors also noted that the inner liner of the roof was dirty (mostly due to emissions from automotive events) and had some holes in it, advising that the holes be monitored to avoid large tears from enlarging. In addition, Birdair noted some minor areas on the outer membrane that needed repairing, which were done by the time of the Commission's July regular meeting. Overall, Birdair noted the membrane was weathering as anticipated and had exceeded its service life of 20 years; it recommended planning for replacement of the roof fabric, and noted that planning and implementation would take an additional five years and cost $12”“$15 million. In forming their own conclusion, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission staff decided that the outer membrane was in very good shape, that the roof continued to have serviceable life, and planned schedule another testing in four years; the Commission made no recommendations. 2010 roof incident A severe winter storm arrived on December 10”“11, 2010 with high snow accumulation (more than seventeen inches) and strong winds; those winds made the roof unsafe for the snow removal crew. As the workers were pulled back, the roof was already sagging in the center. On December 12 at about 5:00 a.m., the roof had a catastrophic collapse and three panels tore open. The night before, a Fox Sports crew setting up for an upcoming Vikings game noticed water leaking from the roof and kept their cameras on all night; those cameras captured the roof tearing and ice and snow falling into the stadium. No one was injured. Most of the roof sagged and came to rest on cable stays. The collapse caused no damage inside the arena aside from a light fixture and some seats. The turf was not damaged; a drainage system designed for cleaning purposes allowed the field to dry out. On December 15, 2010 a fourth panel ripped open, sending more snow and ice into the dome. The Vikings and the New York Giants had been scheduled to play a football game on the afternoon of the 12th. The game had already been postponed to Monday night, the 13th, due to concerns of stadium officials. Because of the tears in the roof, the NFL relocated the game to Ford Field in Detroit. The league considered moving that game to the University of Minnesota's nearby TCF Bank Stadium, but it had been shut down and winterized for the season and would have needed several days to prepare for a football game. Due to roof repair time estimates, the Vikings December 20 game against the Chicago Bears was moved to TCF Bank Stadium. The final two games for the 2010 Minnesota Vikings season already were scheduled as road games, and the team had already been eliminated from the playoffs. The Gophers' first baseball game of their 2011 season at the Dome was scheduled for February 5. However, on December 29, it was announced that the roof would not be repaired until the spring of 2011. As a result, the Gophers were forced to cancel scheduled home games in March against Washington State, Hamline, North Dakota State, and Cal State Bakersfield as well as the annual Metrodome Tournament. A second tournament, the Dairy Queen Classic, was moved to Tucson, and a scheduled home series against Cal Poly was moved to Cal Poly. On February 10, 2011 it was announced that the entire Metrodome roof needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of $18 million. On February 18, the Gophers announced that all 12 scheduled Big Ten home games in April and May would be played at Target Field, with three non-conference games moved to on-campus Siebert Field.

The field
During its early years of operation, the field at the Metrodome was surfaced with SuperTurf. The surface, also known as SporTurf, was very bouncy"so bouncy, in fact, that Billy Martin once protested a game after seeing a base hit that would normally be a pop single turn into a ground rule double. Baseball and football players alike complained that it was too hard. This surface was upgraded to Astroturf in 1987, and in 2004, the sports commission had a newer artificial surface, called FieldTurf, installed. FieldTurf is thought to be a closer approximation to natural grass than Astroturf in its softness, appearance, and feel. A new Sportexe Momentum Turf surface was installed during the summer of 2010. The sliding pits and pitcher's mound used by the Twins and Gophers has been removed. Any future baseball games will see baserunners slide on "grass." The homeplate area is being kept as it is not "in-play" for football configuration. The original homeplate installed at the dome was memorably dug up after the Twins' final game and has been installed at Target Field.

Plexiglas
From 1985 to 1994, the left-field wall included a six-foot clear Plexiglas screen for a total height of 13 feet (4.0 m). It was off this Plexiglas wall that former Twins player Kirby Puckett jumped to rob Ron Gant of the Atlanta Braves of an extra-base hit during Game 6 of the 1991 World Series (a game that Puckett would win with an 11th-inning walkoff homer) - in later years, with the Plexiglas removed, it would have been a potential home run ball.

The Baggie
The Metrodome's right-field wall was composed of the seven-foot-high (2.1 m) fence around the whole outfield and a 16-foot (4.9 m)-high plastic wall extension in right field, known as the "Baggie", or the " Hefty Bag." The seats above and behind the Baggie were home run territory; the Baggie itself was part of the outfield wall. Fenway Park's " Green Monster", a comparable but taller feature, is 17 feet (5.2 m) closer to home plate than the Baggie was, so batters who hit short, high fly balls were not typically helped by it. However, it was an attractive target for left-handed power hitters, and it was not uncommon for upper-deck home runs to be hit to right field. When in a rectangular configuration for football and other small-field events, the Baggie was taken down and the seats behind it extended to form complete lower-deck seating.

Stadium usage

Minnesota Vikings football
As the stadium was designed first and foremost for the Minnesota Vikings, they have the fewest problems. As a location and playing field with new turf, it is still a suitable venue for football. The Vikings owners want more luxury suites and better concessions. They have twice rejected a renovation, with the 2001 price tag at $269 million. Early fall weather has led to calls for a retractable roof, but climate control is still deemed a necessity for a season that runs through December. The Vikings played their first game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on August 21, 1982. Minnesota won 7-3. The first touchdown in the dome was scored by Joe Senser on an 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer. The first regular-season game in the Metrodome was the 1982 opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 17-10. Rickey Young scored the first regular-season touchdown in the dome on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter. On January 9, 1983, the Vikings defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 30-24, in a 1st-round game that was the first playoff game in the Metrodome. Super Bowl XXVI NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XXVI to Minneapolis during their May 24, 1989 meeting. It became the second Super Bowl to be played in a cold, winter climate city. The first one was Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982 in Pontiac, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Indianapolis, Indiana lost in its bid to host the game at the Hoosier Dome, as did Detroit and Seattle, who had also applied.

Minnesota Twins baseball
When opened in 1982, the Metrodome was appreciated for the protection it gave from mosquitoes, and later the weather. Over the years there had been a love-hate relationship with the fans, sportswriters, and stadium. The Minnesota Twins won two World Series championships in the Metrodome. The Twins won the 1987 World Series and 1991 World Series by winning all four games held at the Dome in both seasons. The loud noise, white roof, quick turf, and the right-field wall (or "Baggie") provided a substantial home-field advantage for the Twins. By 2001, several newer purpose-built Major League Baseball stadiums had been constructed, and the Metrodome was considered to be among the worst venues in Major League Baseball. Only two Twins games in the Metrodome were ever postponed. The first was on April 14, 1983, when a massive snowstorm prevented the California Angels from getting to Minneapolis. The game would have likely been postponed in any case, however; that night heavy snow caused part of the roof to collapse. The second was on August 2, 2007, the day after the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge had collapsed a few blocks away from the Metrodome. The game scheduled for August 1 was played as scheduled (about one hour after the bridge had collapsed) because the team and police officials were concerned about too many fans departing the Metrodome at one time, potentially causing conflict with rescue workers. The August 2 ceremonial groundbreaking at the eventual Target Field was also postponed, for the same reason. The Twins played their final scheduled regular season game at the Metrodome on October 4, 2009, beating the Kansas City Royals, 13-4. After the game, they held their scheduled farewell celebration. Because they ended the day tied with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central, a one-game playoff between the teams was played there on October 6, 2009, with the Twins beating the Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings. The division clincher would be the Twins' last win at the Metrodome. The announced crowd was 54,088, setting the regular-season attendance record. The final Twins game at the Metrodome was on October 11, 2009, when they lost to the New York Yankees 4-1, resulting in three-game sweep in the 2009 American League Division Series. The Twins' appearance in this series gave the Metrodome the distinction of being the first American League stadium to end its Major League Baseball history with post-season play. The only other stadiums whose final games came in the post-season are Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (1996), the Houston Astrodome (1999) and St. Louis's Busch Memorial Stadium (2005), all of which were home venues for National League teams.

Basketball
When configured as a basketball arena, the fans in the nearby bleachers get a suitable view of the court, but the action is difficult to see in the upper decks and is very far away. Concessions are very far away from the temporary infrastructure. Most NBA and major college basketball arenas run to a maximum of 20,000 seats. However, the NCAA tournament makes a significant amount of money selling seats for regional and championship games for the Men's basketball tournament. Several NCAA tournaments have taken place at the stadium:

• 1986 1st and 2nd Round
• 1989 Midwest Regional
• 1991 1st and 2nd Round
• 1992 Final Four
• 1996 Midwest Regional
• 2000 1st and 2nd Round
• 2001 Final Four
• 2003 Midwest Regional
• 2006 Minneapolis Regional
• 2009 1st and 2nd Round

The Timberwolves used the stadium for its home basketball games during its inaugural season (1989”“90) in the NBA, while the team waited for construction of the Target Center to be completed. The team set NBA records for the highest single-season attendance ever: 1,072,572 fans in 41 home games. The largest crowd for a single game occurred on April 17, 1990: 49,551 fans watched the T-Wolves lose to the Denver Nuggets in the last game of the season.

College football
Beginning in the 1982 college football season, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers began playing their home football games in the Metrodome. The first game was a 57-3 victory over the Ohio Bobcats on September 11, 1982. With their move to TCF Bank Stadium, only three NCAA Division I FBS football programs now play indoors ( Idaho, Syracuse and Tulane; the former two play at on-campus domed stadiums while the third shares the Louisiana Superdome with the New Orleans Saints). When the Gophers first moved to the Metrodome, the NFL-class facilities were seen as an improvement over the aging Memorial Stadium. Initially, attendance increased. However, fans waxed nostalgic over fall days playing outdoors on campus. TCF Bank Stadium provides an outdoor, on-campus venue. The Gophers shared the field with the Vikings and Twins. During the earlier part of the season, the baseball turf sections were visible just off the field of play. Many Big Ten teams had gone to some kind of turf because of the climate during the football season. Minnesota installed FieldTurf at its new stadium, joining Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska (starting in 2011) as teams in the Big Ten that play on an artificial surface.)

College baseball
Starting in the 2010 season, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Baseball team are playing all of their home games at the Metrodome (with the exception of a game at the new Target Field on March 27, 2010). The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball has played games since 1985 during February and March because of weather. Later games were played at Siebert Field, except for 2006 when all but two home games were played at the Metrodome . The team often played major tournaments at the Dome, which includes the Dairy Queen Classic, where three other major Division I baseball teams play in an invitational. Prior to the NCAA's 2008 rule in Division I regarding the start of the college baseball season, the Golden Gophers would often play home games at the Metrodome earlier than other teams in the area to neutralize the advantage of warmer-weather schools starting their seasons earlier in the year. Some early Big Ten conference games are played at the Metrodome, and the Golden Gophers take advantage of the home field advantage during the early part of the season before the weather warms, and the Gophers can play games on-campus. Other small colleges also play games in the stadium during the weeks before the Metrodome is open for Division I play. In 2010, 420 amateur baseball and softball games"including the majority of the Golden Gophers' home schedule"were played at the Metrodome. The size of Siebert Field also affects the Golden Gophers starting in 2010. The Golden Gophers last hosted an NCAA baseball tournament regional in 2000, with temporary seating added. With the Metrodome being available for the tournament starting in 2010, the team could easily place a bid, and have a better possibility of hosting, an NCAA baseball regional or super regional. Other cold-weather teams have played at the Metrodome. Big 12 Conference member Kansas has played two series (2007 and 2010) at the Metrodome because of inclement weather against South Dakota State and Eastern Michigan, respectively. The Gophers announced their intention to play all of their 2011 games at the Metrodome.

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