This is what Rogers Centre will look like after it undergoes a $300-million renovation
For the first time in 33 years, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays will undergo a massive $300-million renovation that will see the city’s stadium transformed into a world-class ballpark.
The baseball club’s top brass announced the privately-funded overhaul on Thursday, which they say focuses on modernizing the fan experience and building elite player facilities.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“It’s been a long-time coming,” Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro said at a presentation unveiling the changes.
“When fans come into the building next year, sit in these seats and the seats below, with the Canadian flag unfurled in the field behind us, it will be a dramatically different vision, a dramatically different vista and a different ballpark,” Shapiro said.
The first phase of renovations will begin in the 2022-2023 offseason, starting with the 100 level and 200 level outfield.
Those seating areas will see the installation of what the Jays call new “social spaces” with patios, drink rails, bars and viewing platforms.
Bullpens, where the pitchers warm up, will be raised and surrounded by new seats so that fans can get even closer to their favourite players.
This rendering shows some of the renovations planned as part of the first phase of a major overhaul of the Rogers Centre. (Toronto Blue Jays)
Seats at the 100 level will also be brought forward to new outfield walls, bringing fans within an arm’s reach of the field.
In the 500 level, there will be two new social decks, similar to the existing WestJet Flight Deck, where fans can grab a drink and socialize with other fans regardless of where their seats are.
As well, each and every seat in the 500 level will be replaced—something that hasn’t happened since the building opened.
The upgrades aren’t limited to the fan experience.
At the field level, there are plans in place to build a family room for the player’s families, a 5,000-square-foot weight room, as well as staff locker rooms.
All of those projects will be completed in the offseason and won’t impact baseball play, the club said.
This rendering shows some of the renovations planned as part of the first phase of a major overhaul of the Rogers Centre. (Toronto Blue Jays)
The team explained that the exterior of the building, turf field modification, and roof are not in the current scope of the renovation plans.
The second set of renovations will begin in the 2023-2024 offseason and include upgrades to the 100 level infield, field level premium clubs and social spaces, and clubhouses and player facilities.
The Rogers Centre opened in 1989 as the Sky Dome at a cost of roughly $570 million, or about $1 billion in today’s dollars, and was the first stadium ever built with a fully retractable motorized roof.
This rendering shows some of the renovations planned as part of the first phase of a major overhaul of the Rogers Centre. (Toronto Blue Jays)
Two years ago, a report in the Globe and Mail suggested that the Jays and the developer Brookfield Asset Management Inc. were working on plans for a new downtown stadium. The Blue Jays later confirmed that they were “exploring their options” regarding the future of the Rogers Centre but put the work on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As previously reported by TSN, the club believes the renovations, which will see architecture firm Populous at the helm, will extend the lifespan of the stadium by an additional 10 to 15 years.
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the Rogers Centre brought in a massive 8,000-square-foot videoboard ahead of the 2022 season which allows for an enhanced viewing experience for both fans at the stadium and those watching from home.
With files from Chris Fox
This rendering shows some of the renovations planned as part of the first phase of a major overhaul of the Rogers Centre. (Toronto Blue Jays)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.