Rogers
Centre - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Architect
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Architect
Rod Robbie and Structural Engineer Michael
Allen |
Date Built
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Opened June
3, 1989
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Location
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Blue Jays
Way, Toronto
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Description
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When the
Toronto Blue Jays played their first Major
League Baseball game, on April 7, 1977, at
its original home in Exhibition Stadium,
the weather was freezing cold and prior to
the game the field was covered in
snow. At the time some wondered
whether it was such a good idea to award a
Major League Baseball franchise to such a
"northern" city.
It was certainly understandable therefore
that, when it moved into a new
purpose-built stadium, it was one with a
retractable roof. The stadium was
originally known as the SkyDome, a name
that it kept until 2005 when Rogers
Communication bought it for $25 million
and renamed it the Rogers Centre.
The facility is home to the Blue Jays and
the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian
Football League. The stadium has
five levels of seating with the lower
level being moveable, so that it can be
reconfigured to accommodate the two
sports. It is also a venue for
concerts, family shows, trade shows and
conventions.
The "ballparksofbaseball.com" website says
this of the retractable roof, that is built of four
independent panels, "When the roof
opens three of the four panels, two
barrel shaped and one quarter dome,
maneuver where they stack over the
fourth panel at the north end of the
stadium. Weighing over 21 million
pounds, it takes 20 minutes for the roof
to open or close."
Another feature of the facility is the
Jumbotron, a video display this is 110
feet wide and 33 feet high.
As
you walk up to the stadium you are
confronted by amusing sculptures by the
Canadian artist Michael Snow. They portray
enthusiastic spectators some of whom are
expressing an opinion about the quality
of the game they are watching.
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