Construction on the Metrodome began on December 20, 1979 and was funded by the state of Minnesota. Uncovering the Dome by Amy Klobuchar (now a U.S. Senator) describes the ten-year effort to build the venue. The stadium was named in memoriam to former mayor of Minneapolis, U.S. Senator and U.S. Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, who had died in 1978. The Metrodome cost $68 million to build--roughly $2 million under budget, a rarity for modern stadiums. It is a somewhat utilitarian facility, though not quite as spartan as Metropolitan Stadium. One stadium official once said that all the Metrodome was designed to do was "get fans in, let 'em see a game, and let 'em go home."