One of the Mall of America's main entrances

The Mall of America (also MOA or MoA) is a shopping mall located in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

The mall became the largest shopping mall in the United States when it opened in 1992. However, the mall is not and has never been the largest in the world; that distinction falls to the West Edmonton Mall in Canada. The Mall of America is, however, the most visited shopping mall in the world with more than 40 million visitors annually.

Mall design

The 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 stores are located at the corners. The mall employs over 12,000 workers.

The mall is located near the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, and is across the interstate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Two nearly identical seven story parking ramps on east and west sides provide approximately 13,000 parking spaces. Parking lots 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 area casinos offer free shuttles to their establishments. One of the major bus stations is in the lower level of the eastern parking ramp, where a new light rail connection opened on December 4, 2004. The Hiawatha Line connects the mall to the MSP 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. Many commuters into downtown are expected to use the mall for park and ride service.

Despite being in Minnesota, the mall is largely unheated. Enough heat is allowed in through skylights above Camp Snoopy, produced by lighting fixtures and other devices, and produced by the employees and guests of the mall to keep it comfortable. Only the mall's entrances are heated.

Camp Snoopy

Camp Snoopy is an indoor theme park in the centre of the mall. The park features two rollercoasters among numerous other rides and attractions, and is the largest indoor theme park in America. The theme involves Snoopy and other comic strip characters from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Paul Bunyan and SpongeBob SquarePants, though not associated with Peanuts are also featured at Camp Snoopy.

Camp Snoopy is managed by Cedar Fair, a company which owns a number of amusement parks around the country, including Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, Knott's Berry Farm, in Buena Park, California, and Valleyfair, in Shakopee, Minnesota, near the Mall of America.

History

The 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 Camp Snoopy commemorates the former location of home plate. Reportedly, one seat from Met Stadium was placed in the Mall of America at the exact location (including elevation) it occupied in the stadium.

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 Assurance and Annuity , and the Triple Five Group .

The mall opened its doors to the public in 1992. Even before opening, the Mall of America had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall," "Sprawl of America," "Hugedale" (in reference to the four major area shopping malls Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and Brookdale ) and, simply, "The Mall." In the Twin Cities metro area, if one says one is going to "the Mall" without any further qualifiers, it is generally understood that the mall being referred to is not a local shopping center but the Mall of America.

Many significant expansions to the mall have been proposed, but they have run into safety issues because of the mall's proximity to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

Notable attractions

• "Anchor" stores Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sears
• 14-screen movie theater
• Camp Snoopy amusement park
• Underwater Adventures aquarium
• Numerous full service restaurants
• Bars and nightclubs on the 4th floor
• A wedding chapel
• The Mall of America campus of National American University
• Lego Imagination Center

External links

• Mall of America
• Mall of America's Phase II Expansion website
• Mall of America History
• The Ghermezian Organization Ltd.
• Mall of America's Prom Fashions website
• Mall of America's Teen Fashions website