[2] Thomas Lowry, who lived on a hill overlooking the grounds, and others donated most of the land for The Parade to the Minneapolis park board in 1904.

[3] The board did not act on Lowry's suggestion for a golf course for the park but did express its intent to use the area for active recreation purposes.

In the spring of 1908, the park board developed five baseball fields at The Parade, which were the city's first public recreation facilities.

After the seven baseball and two football fields were re-graded and open for play in 1914, the park became the center of amateur sports in the city.

That September, an exhibition football game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers drew 20,000 fans.

At first, the stadium was a financial success, partly because of revenue from hosting an annual National Football League (NFL) exhibition game.

When Metropolitan Stadium was built in Bloomington in 1956 to attract professional baseball and football to Minnesota, the yearly NFL exhibition game was played there.

[3] In the mid-1960s, Parade Stadium generated income by booking top musical acts for outdoor rock concerts.

[1] Eventually, music promoters became unwilling to meet the growing limitations placed on concerts by the park board to address complaints from people who lived near the stadium.

As a result, Parade Stadium was demolished in 1990, the softball field was moved, and the Sculpture Garden expanded.

The Walker paid the million-dollar price tag for demolition of the stadium and relocation of the softball field.