Autostade
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|
Capacity | 33,172 |
---|---|
Surface | Grass (1966–1976) |
Construction | |
Opened | 1966 |
Demolished | late 1970s |
Architect | Victor Prus and Maurice Desnoyers |
Tenants | |
Montreal Alouettes (CFL) (1968–1971, 1973-1976) Montreal Olympique (NASL) (1971, 1973) |
The Autostade (the
Design and financing
The Autostade was built in preparation for the 1967
The stadium was financed by donations from the five major auto manufacturers in Canada at the time:
, hence its name.History
From the start, the new stadium was configured for CFL football use. The first CFL game played at the Autostade was the 1966 Eastern final between the Ottawa Rough Riders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, held on November 19. The Rough Riders would have hosted the game, but Lansdowne Park was undergoing extensive renovations at the time. Ottawa won the game 42-16. This game also marked the first use of the single-shaft "goose-necked" field goal posts in the CFL (which has become the norm in professional football since; the NFL and NCAA later adopted those model goalposts the next year).
It was originally planned that Montreal's new baseball team, the Montreal Expos, would play home games at the Autostade as well for at least their first two seasons.[2] However, the city was unwilling to pay the cost of adding a dome, thought to be a must because of Montreal's often bitterly cold springs and falls. The Alouettes demanded steep rent payments in order to let the Expos share the stadium. Even without these factors to consider, since the Autostade was owned by the federal government, there were some doubts that the city even had the authority to renovate it. Instead, the Expos opted to use Jarry Park.[3]
Following its use in Expo 67, the gaps between the sections were filled in preparation for the Alouettes'
The only
Crowds remained small for the next two seasons. The 1971 CFL All Star Game attracted little attention, and the Alouettes ownership decided to return to
In 1978, the city of
In May 2005, the Montreal Impact soccer club had announced that they would be building a new stadium near the former location of the Autostade (now a parking lot and transformer station). The Impact later changed their plans, and broke ground on a new stadium in Olympic Park in the spring of 2007 which opened as Saputo Stadium in 2008.
References
- ^ "Autostade in Montreal", CFLdb, retrieved 14 December 2016
- ^ "Montreal mapping its baseball future". Milwaukee Journal. May 29, 1968. p. 14, part 2.
- ^ Blackman, Ted (1968-08-09), "Drapeau's late grand slam saves ball club", Montreal Gazette, p. 22, retrieved 24 January 2015
- ^ Gilbert, Doug (24 February 1973). "ALs back to Autostade in '73". The Saturday Gazette. The Montreal Gazette. p. 27. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- ^ Viquez, Marc (2019-05-03). "A Stadium Reborn in Thetford Mines". Stadium Journey. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
- ^ Viquez, Marc (3 May 2019). "A Stadium Reborn in Thetford Mines | Stadium Journey". Retrieved 2020-08-25.