Commonwealth Stadium may get winter dome as legacy project
$500K raised during 2018 event committed to winter dome over Commonwealth field
A winter dome for the home of the Eskimos is one significant step closer to becoming the legacy of Edmonton playing host to the 106th Grey Cup.
The legacy of the already guaranteed-to-be-sensationallysuccessful Grey Cup Nov. 25 will be $500,000 toward the purchase of a temporary dome to erect over the playing surface of Commonwealth Stadium annually during winter months.
Identified as a possible legacy project by Grey Cup co-chairmen Brad Sparrow and Len Rhodes back when the massive plans and entertainment lineup for ticketed events to the Grey Cup Festival were announced in September, the project has now received a ‘Go’ from the board of the community-owned organization.
“We are now prepared to make a $500,000 contribution, as part of the Grey Cup legacy donation toward a stadium dome,” revealed Rhodes, the Eskimos president and CEO. “The final dome approval is now dependent on a series of steps and budget approval processes that are in the hands of the City of Edmonton at the moment, but we are hopeful that everything will be approved.”
It’s the history of major Edmonton sports events that there be a significant legacy involved. It’s also part of the reason why Edmonton has earned the reputation as the world capital of volunteerism. The legacy projects are the payoff to the volunteers, the citizens who buy the tickets and the companies that get involved in sponsorships.
Commonwealth Stadium itself came into being as a result of the 1978 Commonwealth Games and was expanded from 43,346 seats as a legacy from the 1983 FISU World Universiade Games and drew Grey Cup crowds of 60,081 in 1984, 60,431 in 1997, 62,531 in 2002 and 63,317 in 2010.
Visitors to all those Grey Cups have witnessed Commonwealth Stadium transform to include spacious concession and hosting areas, game day suites, a large fieldhouse, massive community recreation centre and a game day hosting deck overlooking the field. There is a state-of-the-art team dressing room that will be occupied by either the Stampeders or Blue Bombers next week and the new visiting dressing room where either the RedBlacks or Tiger-Cats will reside.
Visiting Grey Cup fans, for the first time, will sit in the new wider green- and gold-coloured seats that have resulted in a reduced capacity of 55,819 in the facility that remains as the largest open-air stadium in Canada. The new configuration first came into play for the opening game and largest number of games — 11 in total — involved in the Canada 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The seats are the legacy of that event while the other enhancements resulted from playing host to events such as the 2002 FIFA Women’s U-19 World Championship, 2001 World Track & Field Championships as well as the previous four Grey Cups.
“Yes, we believe in the importance of a Grey Cup legacy project. We have earmarked $500,000 for the legacy project as a financial contribution to the project estimated to cost $2.5 to $3 million,” said Rhodes.
“The benefit would be to allow amateur football and other amateur sports access to a facility during the winter months. Equipping the stadium for winter use will maximize use of the facility during the entire 12-month calendar and provide the community with added recreation space.
“And in terms of legacy, there would be another benefit. It would help our chances of being awarded hosting rights to a future Mark’s CFL Week, something we want dearly for our city,” he said of the relatively new off-season event that brings 60 CFL stars to a city for a TSN video shoot, fan festival, Spirit of Edmonton-style party event and media “car wash” interviewing sessions with player interactions with fans throughout the week. It concludes with the CFL Combine player testing of draft-eligible players for which the dome over the field would be perfect.
“The field dome is our first choice as a legacy project, so we will wait for the city’s approval process to unfold according to their timelines. The City of Edmonton has been a wonderful partner all year long and we could not have hosted the Grey Cup without their support for the downtown festival and the game itself. A field dome would be our icing on the cake.”
CONTRIBUTION MADE UP OF 50/50 FUND
A significant part of the Eskimos $500,000 contribution toward a dome for the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium would come from two Grey Cup 50-50s.
The first will involve 50,000 printed numbered tickets for sale at $10 each with a guaranteed minimum payout of $100,000 and a maximum of $250,000.
Those tickets will be sold Thursday, Friday and Saturday at two fixed locations on the downtown festival site. The winner will be announced when the tickets are sold out or at the end of the day Saturday. The other 50-50 at the game will be the automated sale as is normal at all regular season Eskimos games.