Skydome-Rogers Centre, as seen from Toronto Harbour in 2020. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
November 2020
Toronto’s Roger’s Centre/The Sky Dome, has been a part of the skyline since 1989, joining other iconic skyline buildings as the CN Tower and the Royal York Hotel. With its fully retractable roof, it was the first such stadium when it was officially opened to great fanfare on 3 June 1989.
In modern cities and towns, buildings come and go. Some stand for hundreds of years, and others for a lot less.
Skydome cost $570 million to build, most of which was funded by the taxpayer. After going into bankruptcy protection, Stadium Corporation of Ontario, the Crown corporation that was established to run the stadium, sold Skydome in 1994 for $151 million to a private consortium that included Labatt Breweries. It was sold again in 1999 to Sportsco International LP in another bankruptcy sale for $80 million, and finally to Rogers Communications for $25 million, which is about 4% of the original construction costs.
Besides the fact that taxpayers have already been royally fleeced, discussing demolishing the stadium after only thirty years further erodes the financial bath taken by taxpayers.
If this new stadium comes to fruition, ALL of the money to build and operate the stadium MUST come from the private corporations who will stand to profit from it.
Skydome under construction in 1988. Photo: Bruce Forsyth. 
Skydome-Rogers Centre in 2020. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Centre, https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2020/11/rogers-demolish-skydome-new-home-toronto-blue-jays.
