(also '''MOA''', '''MoA''', or '''the Megamall''') is a
Shopping Mall located in the
Twin Cities suburb of
Bloomington ,
Minnesota . The mall is located at . near the junction of
Interstate 494 and
Minnesota State Highway 77 , and is across the interstate from the
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport .
The mall became the largest shopping mall in total area in the
United States when it opened in
1992 . However, the mall has never been the largest in the world, nor in the
United States in terms of shopping area; four larger shopping malls have been built in
China , in
North America the
West Edmonton Mall in
Canada is larger,
Woodfield Mall in
Schaumburg, Illinois and
King Of Prussia Mall in the
Philadelphia suburbs have more retail space. Mall of America is, however, 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).
Mall of America has a gross area of 4.2 million ft² (390,000 m²), with 2.5 million ft² (230,000 m²) available as retail space.
The mall is a nearly
Symmetrical building, with a roughly
Rectangular Floor Plan . Over 520 stores are arranged along three levels of pedestrian walkways on the sides of the rectangle, with a fourth level on one side. Four "anchor"
Department Store s are located at the corners. The mall employs over 12,000 workers.
Two nearly identical seven story
Parking Ramp s on east and west sides provide approximately 13,000 parking spaces.
Parking Lot s on the north and south of the building, along with nearby overflow parking, bring the total number of spaces up to approximately 20,000.
The mall is used as a major transportation hub in the region, with
Bus service linking the mall to other destinations. Regular public transit service is provided by
Metro Transit and other area bus lines, and an area
Casino offers free shuttles to their establishment. One of the major bus stations is in the lower level of the eastern parking ramp, where a new
Light Rail Station opened on
December 4 ,
2004 . The
Hiawatha Line connects the mall to the
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and stretches into downtown Minneapolis (another major shopping destination in the region, particularly during weekdays). It is expected that the line to the mall will be heavily marketed to passengers at the airport, particularly people who will be on layovers of three hours or more. The mall is being discouraged as a
Park And Ride facility, and overnight parking is banned to prevent passengers taking the train to the airport. Commuters and airport parkers are encouraged to use the nearby
28th Avenue Station 's parking lot.
Despite Minnesota's extremely cold winters, the mall is largely unheated. Heat is allowed in through
Skylight s above The Park at MOA, heat is produced by lighting fixtures and other devices, and also produced by the employees and guests of the mall, in sufficient amounts to keep it comfortable. Only the mall's entrances are heated. In fact, even during the winter,
Air Conditioning systems need to be run nonstop during peak hours to ensure a comfortable shopping environment.
See Also: The Park at MOA
is an indoor
Theme Park in the center of the mall. The park features two
Rollercoaster s among numerous other rides and attractions, and is the largest indoor theme park in
America .
Until January 19, 2006, the park was called
Camp Snoopy , and the theme of the park involved
Snoopy and other
Comic Strip characters from
Peanuts by
Charles M. Schulz , who was born in
Saint Paul, Minnesota .
Paul Bunyan and
Yogi Bear , not associated with
Peanuts , are still featured at the current "Park at MOA".
On the morning of January 10, 2006,
WCCO radio reported that licensing negotiations between the Mall of America and the syndicate that owns the rights to the "Peanuts" characters had failed, and that the park's "Peanuts" theme would be phased out.
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 Park at MOA commemorates the former location of home plate. One seat from Met Stadium was placed in the Mall of America at the exact location (including elevation) it occupied in the stadium, to commemorate a 520 foot home run hit by
Hall-of-famer Harmon Killebrew on
June 3 ,
1967 . There are no corresponding references to the Vikings, although some have suggested that a statue of
Armen Terzian might be appropriate.
In
1986 , The Bloomington Port Authority signed an agreement with the
Ghermezian Organization , who had previously worked on
West Edmonton Mall .
Groundbreaking for the mall took place on
June 14 ,
1989 . Organizations involved include
Melvin Simon And Associates ,
Teachers Insurance And Annuity , the
Triple Five Group , and the office of architect
Jon Jerde .
The mall opened its doors to the public in
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
Brookdale ) and, simply, "The Mall".
In
2003 , after a protracted six year legal battle between
Simon Properties , the managing general partner of the property, and the Ghermezian brothers Triple Five Group over majority ownership of the site, a federal appeals judge 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 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. The ruling clears the way for Triple Five to begin work on what is being called "Phase II", the development of the parcel of land north of the mall, the former site of the
Met Center .
Phase II, in current form, includes a dinner theatre, ice rink, three hotels, and a waterpark; similar in design to the
West Edmonton Mall . The plan has been impeded by outside forces, however. Groundbreaking for Phase II is set for early spring 2007, and the construction will integrate the existing
IKEA store into Phase II as one of its new anchor stores.
In a column on October 3, 2003, a ''
Wall Street Journal '' writer described the MOA as a "dinosaur"
{Link without Title} , although the buying public evidently does not agree.
