On this Day in Twins History – Metrodome groundbreaking – December 20, 1979

June 12, 1980: The domed Hubert H. Humphrey Stadium in downtown Minneapolis is beginning to take shape as construction continues on schedule. The 65,000-seat facility, scheduled to open in April of 1982 is about $11.7 million below budget. (Pioneer Press file photo)
June 12, 1980: The domed Hubert H. Humphrey Stadium in downtown Minneapolis is beginning to take shape as construction continues on schedule. The 65,000-seat facility, scheduled to open in April of 1982 is about $11.7 million below budget. (Pioneer Press file photo)

December 20, 1979 – With the official groundbreaking taking place, construction began on the Metrodome and it was built by the state of Minnesota at a cost of approximately $68 million. The Metrodome becomes baseballs’ third domed facility when it opened in 1982.

The Minnesota Twins moved out of the Metrodome after the 2009 season and moved across town to their new digs at Target Field. The last season that the NFL Minnesota Vikings played there was in 2013.

Metrodome late March 2014
Metrodome late March 2014

The Dome was then gutted and almost completely torn down starting in January 2014 and the new Minnesota Vikings $1+ billion US Bank Stadium is being built and will be ready for the Vikings 2016 season.

This is what the site of the Metrodome looks like now as the new US Bank rises from the ashes of the old dome. The old dome cost $68 million and the shiny new US Bank Stadium comes in at a price tag of well over a billion dollars and will be the home of the Minnesota Vikings.
This is what the site of the Metrodome looks like now as the new US Bank rises from the ashes of the old dome. The old dome cost $68 million and the shiny new US Bank Stadium comes in at a price tag of well over a billion dollars and will be the home of the Minnesota Vikings.

The US Bank construction cam can be seen here. Metrodome on Wiki.