BC Place Stadium
BC Place Stadium is Canada's first domed stadium. It is located on the north side of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia and home to the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the regions largest consumer shows, trade shows and special events. It is owned and operated by PavCo (BC Pavilion Corporation), a Crown Corporation of the government in the Province of British Columbia. BC Place will be the host of the opening, closing and nightly medal ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympic games.
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[edit] History
The stadium, completed in 1983, was built as part of the preparation for Expo 86. It is the world's largest air-supported domed stadium and can seat 60,000 in its mixture of permanent and portable light-blue plastic seats.
Currently, its main sports tenant is the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League; formerly, it was the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League, who occupied it in the early 80s. The Whitecaps played the first sporting event in the stadium in 1983, against the Seattle Sounders.
The stadium hosted Grey Cup games in 1983, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1994, 1999, and 2005, perhaps the most thrilling account being the 1994 one in which the hometown Lions defeated the U.S. expansion team Baltimore Football Club on a last-second field goal, preventing the Grey Cup trophy from leaving Canada (although Baltimore would win the Grey Cup the following year).
In 1987, an exhibition match of Australian Rules Football was played at the stadium and drew a crowd of 32,789 - a record for the largest AFL/VFL crowd outside of Australia.
The stadium will be the first indoor Olympic Stadium as the venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics
There has been talk of demolishing the stadium for more condominiums after the 2010 Winter Olympics, as well as a running joke that the Olympic Flame will burn the roof off, fulfilling the dream of purists who want BC Place Stadium to be an outdoor venue.
[edit] Features
The stadium has a FieldTurf surface that was purchased from Montreal's Olympic Stadium for $1 million CAD. BC Place has been the home to the CFL's B.C. Lions since 1983, and will serve as the site for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. A monument commemorating Terry Fox is located outside the stadium, as well as a smaller monument commemorating Percy Williams.
[edit] Additional Information
BC Place is busy with over 200 event days per year and contributes over 40 million dollars per year in economic benefits to the Province of British Columbia. It hosts the Province's largest trade and consumer shows, community events and motorsports. In 2005, BC Place played host to Vans' Slam City Jam Skateboarding Championships. It has also hosted several MLB preseason games involving the Toronto Blue Jays, the Montreal Expos, the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers.
PavCo is governed primarily by the British Columbia Enterprise Corporation Act, which names it an Agent of the government, binds it by the same laws as the government, and gives it the same immunities as the government.
The stadium is served by the Skytrain's Stadium-Chinatown Station.
[edit] See also
Other domed stadiums in Canada include:
- Rogers Centre in Toronto
- Stade Olympique in Montreal
