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The SkyDome |
The SkyDome is the biggest stadium in Canada. Construction of the "Dome" was completed in 1989. It is home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and Argonauts football team. Due to its retractable roof, it can host many different kinds of events.
History
| Construction of the SkyDome began in April 1986 and lasted until just before its opening on June, 3, 1989. The construction work was done by over 2000 workers. There is a sculpture at the north end of level 100 with the signatures of all the workers who constructed the skydome as a tribute to them. It costed $580 million to build the "Dome". Originally these were paid by the government and 29 different companies. The stadium was designed by Rod Robbie of Toronto and Michael Allen of Ottawa. It was built by Ellis-Don Construction. The SkyDome was the first stadium in the world to feature a fully retractable roof. Sportsco International is the current owner of the "Dome." |  |
Some extraordinary events
1992: 46 inflated hot air balloons were on the field, a record for an enclosed venue
1997: SkyDome hosted a record of 302 event days with announced attendance for events and tours of 4,500,000, making it one of the busiest places in the world
2001: two parts of roof collided and the debris falling down had the Kansas City Royals players take some extra batting practice. Fortunately no one was hurt
Facts
The "Dome" is located on the base of CN Tower at Front and John Streets. It can be reached easily by train being just a 10 minutes walk from Union Station through the SkyWalk (a covered Sidewalk). It can be used as a stadium as well as a concert-arena or a convention-hall.
From the field to the rooftop the "Dome" is 86m high. It is 213m in diameter and covers an area of 4.66 hectares. Depending on its use, the SkyDome can hold up to 65,673 people.
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It can be converted from a football to a baseball stadium in less than twelve hours. This is possible because of the lower stands placed on rollers and the Astroturf field can be rolled up. Also, the "Dome" contains the second largest video-wall in the world measuring 33m*10m and consisting of circa 420,000 lightbulbs. |
| However, the most interesting feature of the SkyDome is its retractble roof. Consisting of four parts of which three are moveable, 91% of the seating area and the whole field can be exposed. This is accomplished by moving the two top parts over and circulating the southern part under the northern part. All this takes less than 20 minutes time. |  |
Teams
Blue Jays are Torontos baseball team who calls the SkyDome their home. They won the world series in 1992 and 1993. Currently they are rather at the bottom of major league.
Argonauts are the football at home in the "Dome". The Argonauts won the Grey Cup in '91, '96 and '97.
Further info & sources
All images were taken from the Google(TM) imagedirectory.
