Blue Jays fans could soon be treated to a new in game experience at the Rogers Centre. The team announced plans for a $200-250M redesign of the lower bowl to modernize the Jays stadium, with a formal announcement expected to come in the new year.
Rogers Centre, which is currently 32 years old, had long been criticized as being cold, sterile, and jokingly referred to as a parking lot with astroturf. When it was first unveiled in 1989, the then “Sky Dome” was an engineering marvel with the first fully retractable motorized roof in existence. However baseball has seen a shift from monolithic stadiums to smaller more intimate venues with premium seating options in recent years, something that the 53,000+ seat Rogers Centre was sorely lacking.
The renovations will reportedly take place over the course of several offseasons so as not to disrupt the Jays MLB schedule. The announcement comes on the heels of several upgrades the Blue Jays have made to their facilities in recent years including: renovations to TD Ballpark in Dunedin, a new player development complex in Florida, installation of a dirt infield at Rogers Centre, and weightroom/batting cage upgrades.
The driving force behind the construction project is to improve the fan experience, while increasing revenue for a team that’s recently doled out some of the biggest contracts in franchise history. Toronto obviously feels that their window to compete is now, and want to capitalize on renewed interest in the team following their strong showing in 2021.
Blue Jays ownership briefly explored the idea of constructing a new stadium all together, however the sheer volume of red tape involved with such an undertaking quickly nixed the idea of a new build. Initial estimates of erecting a new stadium at some of the proposed locations landed around $1.5B, making the $200-250M price tag of the Rogers Centre retrofits seem like a bargain by comparison.
The design firm Populous was chosen as the principal designer for the project owing to their extensive experience building and renovating Major and Minor League stadiums across the continent. To date they’ve completed projects on 20 MLB and 76 MiLB stadiums and spring training facilities.