Mall of America Bloomington MN

After living in south Florida for 38 years we figured it was a sure bet that the Christmas Holidays would be warm. But, just like most of the country, there was a big chill in the air!. And that made me long for the warmth of summer. Which, in turn, reminded me that we spent a glorious July 4th shopping at the Mall of America in Bloomington MN.

Mall of America Bloomington MN

It is hard to describe just how vast that mall really is. So I will just say “indoor amusement park plus 4 levels of shopping, restaurants and entertainment”.

After spending several days enjoying the arts in Minneapolis and the joyful company of friends, we realized that we had not yet purchased our souvenir magnet. It was July 4th and we were leaving the area soon for our next destination. Luckily for us the Mall was open for business.

Mall of America Bloomington MN is really something to behold. It was actually a bucket list item for me. Because, what woman wouldn’t want to visit the largest mall in the United States?

The Mall of America opened in Bloomington MN back in 1992. Since it opened it has revolutionized the shopping experience for tens of millions of visitors and shoppers each year. It quickly became one of the foremost tourist attractions in the country, if not the world. This was evident my the people from all over the globe that were exploring this monumental indoor shopping mecca the day we were there.

History

Ten years prior to the mall opening, in 1982, the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Vikings football team moved to the new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. That meant that their former home, the Metropolitan Stadium property  in Bloomington was up for sale. This created an unprecedented opportunity for developing the 78 acres of prime real estate that the empty stadium sat on.

The property was purchased by the Bloomington Port Authority in 1985, and they began seeking proposals for developing the property. It came down to four final proposals and Mall of America was the final choice. The Mall of America opened its doors on August 11, 1992 with 330 stores, employing more than 10,000 people.

Present day

More than 400 events are hosted by Mall of America each year. There are concerts, celebrity appearances and fashions shows. Forty million people from all over the world visit the mall each year. Those people generate close to $2 BILLION annually in economic impact for the state of Minnesota.

Green Initiatives

Mall of America is totally committed to protecting our environment with their Green Initiatives. They use the best practices possible along with cutting edge technology. I was quite surprised to learn that there is not central heating system. Instead the temperature inside the mall is maintained year-round with passive solar energy that comes from 1.2 miles of skylights along with heat generated from lighting, store fixtures and body heat!

There are more than 30,000 live plants and 300 live trees throughout the mall that act as natural air purifiers. They now have completed the largest LED parking garage lighting conversion in the nation. And by doing so they’ve reduced the consumption of electricity by 7 million kilowatts annually.

Not only that, but they recycle more than 60% of their waste which averages 32,000 tons each year. More than 2,400 tons of food waste is recycled by sending it to a local hog farm. That food waste feeds more than 1 million hogs meals annually. Fat from the restaurant fryers at the mall is converted into more than 4,000 pounds of biodiesel each month. That’s enough fuel for a 530foot semi to travel from New York to Los Angeles 5 times!

There are more than 275 water efficient toilets that save over 1.4 million gallons of water in just one year.

Steve and I were in awe of this unbelievably large and eco friendly mall. But I think the thing that will stay with us forever, is the fact that there was an indoor amusement park!!!

After our successful excursion to the Mall of America for our Minnesota magnet, we headed back to Ladybug to get ready for Fourth of July Festivities. We grilled some great hot dogs and burgers on our BBQ and then headed to a perfect spot to watch the fabulous fireworks display put on by the Mystic Lakes Casino across the street. We were told by some other RVers at the park where to park our chairs and had a perfect view of the glorious boomers. Honestly, it felt like it was our very own July 4th fireworks show. An awesome day indeed!!!