Broke ground October 3, 1966 Demolished 13 December 1994 | Opened 21 October 1967 | |
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Former names Metropolitan Sports Center (1967–1982) Location 7901 Cedar Avenue SouthBloomington, Minnesota 55420 Owner Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission Operator Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission Capacity 16,000 (basketball)15,000 (ice hockey) Similar Metropolitan Stadium, Omni Coliseum, McNichols Sports Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | ||
Met center demolition but the building still stands mp4
The Met Center was an indoor arena that stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The arena, which was completed in 1967 by Minnesota Ice, just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,000. It was best known as the home of the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1993. For its first 15 years, its official name was the Metropolitan Sports Center; the more familiar shorter name was adopted in 1982.
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The Met's other tenants included the ABA's Minnesota Muskies, which played just one season before moving to Miami for the 1968-69 season. The league responded by moving the defending champion Pittsburgh Pipers to Bloomington, but the Pipers left to return to Pittsburgh after the season. The NASL's Minnesota Kicks played two indoor seasons at the Met from 1979 to 1981. The Minnesota Strikers of the Major Soccer League (MISL) played indoor soccer at the Met Center from 1984 to 1988. The Boys' High School Hockey Tournament was also held there from 1969 to 1975.
The arena also held entertainment-related shows, including the very first performance of Sesame Street Live in September 1980.
History
The Met Center was considered to be one of the finest arenas in the NHL for many years, both for its sightlines, and its ice surface. Among NHL players, the Met was known for fast ice, the best lighting, great locker rooms and training facilities. The Met never boasted fancy amenities, and by comparison to modern arenas it had cramped concourses, no luxury suites, and very few frills. As a sports facility, it could best be described as utilitarian, a theme which repeats itself in most Minnesota sports facilities built before 1988 (such as the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome).
After the North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas in 1993 and became the Dallas Stars, the Met Center was demolished on December 13, 1994 in a series of three controlled implosions. The NHL returned to Minnesota in 2000 when the expansion Minnesota Wild began play at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Harlem Globetrotters, an annual visitor to the Met Center, moved on, as had a large portion of Met Center's concert business, to Target Center.
For several years after the arena was demolished, the property served as an overflow lot for the Mall of America. In 2004, an IKEA store opened on the west end of the property, and the new American Boulevard was rerouted through the east end of the property. The remainder of the site is planned long-term to become the site of Mall of America Phase II, of which the IKEA would be an anchor store.
Notable events
Janet Jackson filmed the music video for "Black Cat" on 05/05/1990.