Mall of America’s 30th anniversary comes with expansion plans in sight

It’s now been 30 years since Mall of America opened its doors in Bloomington.

On Aug. 11, 1992, mall officials say there were so many people — about 150,000 — waiting to get in MOA that the fire department told them they had open about 15 minutes early due to safety concerns.

Since then, about 40 million people visit every year. Mall of America estimates 1.2 billion people have visited in total.

“Mall of America is 5.6 million square feet, [and] we have plans to grow to be more than 10 million square feet,” Mall of America Vice President Dan Jasper said. Jasper added one of those plans includes building a water park.

Throughout those three decades the mall has survived multiple recessions, a global pandemic that shut the mall down for three months and two different shootings within the last year.

The most recent happened within a week of the 30th-anniversary celebration, and police have arrested everyone involved.

“The last week has been exciting and traumatic and busy and hectic,” Jasper said. “We had an event last week, and we learned from that.”

Jasper said that by working closely with the Bloomington Police Department and getting input from mall visitors, they’ll be able to keep the mall as safe as they can.