Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous

I realize this is only phase 1 and it looks a lot better, but it's still an awful stadium.

We'll see how it looks next.
 
The Rogers Centre may never live up to the standards of some of the better stadiums in the league, but it can still be a good stadium in its own right. Still, I'd love to see the proposed plans for the renovations that were rejected.
 
You do know that's pretty common knowledge and has nothing to do with how the stadium is perceived by today's MLB standards right?

Oh no - other people in MLB perceive the stadium to be dated.
May as well not bother playing the season in that case.
 
You do know that's pretty common knowledge and has nothing to do with how the stadium is perceived by today's MLB standards right?
Apologies for the curt reply yesterday, but the detractors saying the RC is bad just for the sake of saying it's bad, is tiresome. Offer something constructive or substantial.

It's not a traditional baseball facility, but objectively, and especially with these current upgrades, the place has come a long way since its inception, heck, even 10-15 years ago. These are significant, much needed, and welcome changes.

From 2009:
500_level_concourse-thumb-550x412-10205521.jpg

30_concourse_200_level.jpg


From 2011:
1_field_ready_for_batting_practice_05_28_11.jpg

7_matt_thornton_before_ball4998.jpg
 
Apologies for the curt reply yesterday, but the detractors saying the RC is bad just for the sake of saying it's bad, is tiresome. Offer something constructive or substantial.

It's not a traditional baseball facility, but objectively, and especially with these current upgrades, the place has come a long way since its inception, heck, even 10-15 years ago. These are significant, much needed, and welcome changes.

From 2009:
500_level_concourse-thumb-550x412-10205521.jpg

30_concourse_200_level.jpg


From 2011:
1_field_ready_for_batting_practice_05_28_11.jpg

7_matt_thornton_before_ball4998.jpg


I have stated over and over that it's come a long way. To the point where I even get surprised sometimes how much I don't mind it. Especially when the roof is open and the place is nearly full. I'll be really interested to see how my opinion changes even more when they do the whole lower bowl next year.

As far as being a "detractor saying the RC is bad just for the sake of saying it's bad", I don't know what that means. I'm a die hard baseball fan, and one of the biggest reasons I love baseball so much is because of the stadiums. I'm not sure how many stadiums you've been to, but I've been quite a few and all of them are far superior to Toronto. The problem is, no matter what they do to RC, including 300 million in reno's, it can't change the fact it was designed as a multi-purpose stadium as opposed a baseball park and still has a concrete bunker feel to it.

I'm not sure why people like Mr.ChestorCopperpot are taking such offense to this.

There's a reason the club has said they still have a stadium issue and this reno is to just buy them 10-15 years until they figure the new stadium situation.

It's usually ranked in the top 5 worst stadiums in MLB. Oakland and Tampa are always cemented at 1 and 2, then it's usually RC but sometimes there will be a few other stadiums that bumped down a few spots.

Anyway, my jabs at RC are usually out of frustration because I've been to so many other baseball stadiums that just make the experience way better.

Hopefully the reno on the lower bowl will have a even bigger impact on making it feel like a true baseball stadium.
 
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I have stated over and over it's come a long way to the point I even get surprised at times how much I don't mind it sometimes. Especially when the roof is open and the place is nearly full. I'll be really interested to see how my opinion changes even more when they do the whole lower bowl next year.

As far as being a "detractor saying the RC is bad just for the sake of saying it's bad", I don't know what that means. I'm a die hard baseball fan, and one of biggest reasons I love baseball so much is because of the stadiums. I'm not sure how many stadiums you've been to, but I've been to a lot and all of them far superior to Toronto. The problem is, no matter what they do it, including 300 million in reno's, it can't change the fact it was designed as a multi-purpose stadium as opposed a baseball park and still has a concrete bunker feel to it.

I'm not sure why people like Mr.ChestorCopperpot are taking such offense to this.

There's a reason the club has said they still have a stadium issue and this reno is to just buy them 10-15 years until they figure the new stadium situation.

It's usually ranked in the top 5 worst stadiums in MLB. Oakland and Tampa are always cemented at 1 and 2, then it's usually RC but sometimes there will be a few other stadiums that bumped down a few spots.

Anyway, my jabs at RC are usually out of frustration because I've been to so many other baseball stadiums that just make the experience way better.

Hopefully the reno on the lower bowl will have an even bigger impact on making it feel like a true baseball stadium.
I’m assuming those that don’t have a issue with Rogers Centre being a dump that they work with Rogers or a blue jays employee, the only good thing about Rogers Centre is the location everything else is trash, one example I have made before look how cheap the wall of excellence is, they had a opportunity to do something special to honour the past instead of having a blueboard with white letters when they did the renovation and decided not to
 
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I can understand peoples frustrations with the outcome. I assume more expectations with the renovations? But given the circumstances, I assume the Blue Jays organization is doing what they can do based on what they have. It's nice seeing other renovations on stadiums and you think to yourself, why cant they provide that to the Rogers Centre? But I think it's based on what they can do with the Stadium.

IMO, they've done a great job creating something that feels more like a ballpark vibe. The renovations are giving based on what they can do. So it's expected especially with the location and the origanzation ( in this situation, the Toronto Blue Jays ).
I've been to many games. From the 500 level to the 100. So I have my two cents. Seeing what I've seen I am looking forward to with the next 2-4 phases. I'm really looking forward to having that "experience" live in person watching the Blue Jays. This year i cant wait to check out the new renovations ( 500 and more ) and compare my past experiences to being in those same spots to now.

It may be underwhelming. But I'm sure the experience at Rogers Centre watching the Blue Jays going forward is going to be a difference experience for the fans to watch. For that, I think that was the whole goal giving what they are provided and what they can work with.
 
I can understand peoples frustrations with the outcome. I assume more expectations with the renovations? But giving the circumstances, I assume the Blue Jays organization is doing what they can do based on what they have. Its nice seeing other renovations on stadiums and you think to yourself, why cant they provide that to the Rogers Centre? But I think its based on what they can do with the Stadium.

Well, from what I've heard, there were more elaborate (expensive) options on the table, although I don't know what those exactly were, just that it may have involved "knocking down walls". I think there also was some talk of possibly rotating the field. And this isn't to criticise what Rogers is doing, just that they could have done even more if they wanted to.
 
I make no qualms that RC is in the bottom half to bottom third in terms of MLB stadia. However the issue I have with those who simply spout "RC sux" with out contributing anything else is that I think they fail to take into account the following.

- The stadium was built at the tail end of the cookie cutter, concrete, multi purpose (baseball/football) stadiums and was dated by the time Camden Yards opened 3 years later
- The climate necessitates having a roof
- The stadium was practically left to rot for the better part of 2 decades while it was stuck being owned by Sportsco
- The stadium was designed to be a dome that can become open air when weather allows, rather than an open air stadium that can close the roof during inclement weather
- The location is unbeatable
- It's now the 7'th oldest stadium in MLB with a few of the older ones having undergone massive renovations that may as well have made them new stadiums

Sure you could have a more traditional brick facade, and baseball oriented seating. but the roof will always be there under any renovation or replacement. That will always lead to a claustrophobic effect when closed.

Toronto, despite its stature as a metropolitan area in North America, will never have a Yankee stadium, Dodger Stadium, PNC park, or Petco park. I think it's contemporaries will always be more like Miller Park (American Family field), T Mobile park, and Comerica park/Progressive field.

I'm honestly most curious to see what they do with the 100 level renovations, particularly the seating. Because a proper baseball style seating arrangement could be a significant difference maker in the look and feel of the stadium
 
Someone posted an update on reddit



Given the placement of the Rogers logo on the right field wall, I guess we won't be seeing the fans behind the fence as seen in this render?

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The seating/restaurant area in the RF corner will likely happen in 2024 after rebuilding the entire 100 level. If you look at recent images from March, the wall panels with the Rogers logo in RF are removable.

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A recent update from yesterday courtesy Blue Jays Twitter. I'm impressed with the upgrades and thankfully, they're fairly accurate to what was depicted in the renderings. I was a tad skeptical last year after seeing the renderings from Cleveland's stadium renovations compared to what was actually built back in 2014-15. Shapiro almost certainly had a much larger budget and better resources than anything the Guardians franchise provided.

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