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| SkyDome World's Greatest Entertainment Centre | |
Overhead view of SkyDome with roof closed, seen from the CN Tower. | |
| Facility Statistics | |
| Location | 1 Blue Jays Way Toronto, Ontario M5V 1J3 |
| Broke Ground | October 3, 1986 |
| Opened | June 5, 1989 |
| Surface | AstroTurf |
| Owner | Sportsco International, LP |
| Construction Cost | $570 million CAD |
| Architects | Rod Robbie, Michael Allen |
| Tenants | |
| Toronto Argonauts | 1989-present |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 1989-present |
| Toronto Raptors | 1995- 1999 |
| Seating Capacity | |
| 2004 Baseball | 50,516 |
| 2004 CFL FootballThe Canadian Football League (French: Ligue Canadienne de Football is a professional league located entirely in Canada that plays Canadian football. The league's top trophy, the Grey Cup, was donated by Governor-General Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winni | 53,506 |
| Baseball Field Dimensions | |
| Foul Lines | 328 ft |
| Power Alleys | 375 ft |
| Center Field | 400 ft |
| Backstop | 60 ft |
SkyDome, which opened on June 1June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. Events 193 Roman Emperor Marcus Didius is assassinated in his palace. 1485 Matthias of Hungary took Vienna in his conquest of Austria (from Frede, 1989, is a huge ballpark in Toronto, OntarioOntario ( In Detail) ( In Detail) Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains Capital Toronto Largest City Toronto Area Total % fresh water 4th largest(2nd lgst prov. 1 076 395 kmē 14. 7% Population Total (2001) Density Rank, CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. It is the stadium where the Toronto Blue Jays play baseball and the Toronto Argonauts play Canadian football. It is also the home of many special events that require very large venues, including what is believed (in 2003) to be the world's largest book reading, by Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, on 24th October 2000. It was one of the first stadiums in the world to have a fully retractable motorized roof. It can seat 53,506 people at a football game. SkyDome also has a hotel.
SkyDome was designed by Rod Robbie and Michael Allan and was constructed by Ellis-Don Construction of Toronto. The stadium's construction lasted just over three years, from April 1986 to May 1989. The approximate cost of construction was $600 million (Cdn) which was paid for by the Canadian federal government, Ontario provincial government, and a large consortium of corporations. Though nominally a multi-purpose stadium the primary impetus for its construction was the need for a new baseball stadium for the Blue Jays, who until 1989 played in the wholly inadequate Exhibition Stadium.
SkyDome was the first major team sports arena in North America to sport a fully retractable roof. It is also well known for its enormous Jumbotron scoreboard, at 10 by 35 metres the largest scoreboard in the world. It is the tallest and most massive stadium used by any Major League Baseball team.
In the early 1990s the consortium of companies that had built the stadium had amassed a huge debt and a massive, and controversial, government bail-out was given them.
Usage note: Canadians typically do not say the SkyDome; correct usage is SkyDome, without an article. This usage has been more or less accepted in the USA, especially by ESPN.
See also: List of Major League Baseball stadiums