Status of Edmonton Stadiums
Edmonton Eskimos – Commonwealth Stadium
The City of Edmonton approved a proposal in 2010 to replace Commonwealt’s natural grass field with artificial turf. Artificial turf installation was completed by the end of the week of May 17th, 2010. The process required the removal of over 12,000 cubic meters of soil.
The Eskimos also contributed $7.5 million to $112 million in facility enhancements in the construction of a field house, new locker rooms and office space at Commonwealth. Construction was completed in time for the Eskimos first regular season game in 2010 but caused disruptions for the Eskimos first pre-season game. 2011 also saw the completion of the Eskimo dressing room with a new display. Continuing the stadium enhancements, 2012 began a three year $12 million initiative to replace the seats in the stadium with new, wider green seats, losing one to three seats per row from the current configuration. The new seats are a random pattern of green and gold versus the old orange/brick red colour of the previous seats. The progress of the new seat installation can be seen in the background on broadcasts and images of the players.
The Eskimos need to look at options and alternatives for their 2015 training camp and pre-season game due to the 2015 FIFA Wome’s World Cup, hosted from June 6th to July 5th in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton.
While there was a proposal to make Commonwealth Stadium covered before it was built, Edmonton council elected for an open-air stadium. Talk has persisted over the years that the stadium was built with the possibility to add a roof and there were some attempts to start such a project. The last such plan estimated the cost at $67 million in 1983, but this was a study estimate for an air supported roof, not a final design cost. That plan had its opponents and detractors and the financing questioned. I have found no evidence that the stadium was designed with an enclosure option to be added as another phase of the original plans or that there was ever a serious architectural and engineering study completed to state how an air-inflated dome or other covered roof structure would be accomplished.
cfldb Edmonton Eskimo Stadium History and Details
Commonwealth Stadium seating chart
cfldb Articles and Single Point Links on Commonwealth Stadium
Link Mar 2010: Edmonton to Ditch Natural Turf
