Ivor Wynne Stadium
) (2005–2007) |
Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL from 1950 until it closed on October 27, 2012.[1] The club's previous home was the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds. The stadium was replaced by Tim Hortons Field, with a fixed capacity of 24,000, on the same property.
From 1928, while the stands were still under construction, the civic stadium was mainly used for track & field by the Hamilton Olympic Club and men's soccer teams, while the Hamilton AAA was used more for football and cricket. The stadium had a cinder track where the Cap Cornelius Secondary School relays were held.[2][3]
Construction history
The stadium, called simply the civic stadium (lower cased),[2] was originally built in 1928 to host the 1930 British Empire Games (later the Commonwealth Games).[4] However, playing fields had stood on the site since the city bought the land from a local farmer in 1913.
The stadium was heavily rebuilt in 1970–71. In 1971, it was renamed for
Ivor Wynne was the first facility in Canada to use
The stadium was renovated again after the 2002 CFL season and had a new next-generation FieldTurf playing surface installed and the end zones were squared off. Shortly after the 2003 season, a new scoreboard was erected in the west end of the stadium; owing to sponsorship, it was known as Dofasco TigerVision.
In 2012, the stadium had a large grandstand on one side of the field, with a small section curving around the end zone, and a separate grandstand on the opposite side of the field, with a capacity of just under 29,000.
In 2011, plans were announced to renovate the stadium again in 2012, with a completion date in 2014, and the stadium would also be used for the then upcoming
Events
On August 8, 1961, the Tiger-Cats defeated the visiting Buffalo Bills, at that time a member of the American Football League, in a preseason exhibition game in Hamilton. The Bills, playing the entire game under Canadian rules, lost 38–21. The game marked the only CFL–AFL meeting where the CFL team won.
Some concerts have occurred at Ivor Wynne. The biggest was
In April 2005, Ivor Wynne hosted Our Game to Give, a charity hockey game instigated as a result of the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Nearly 20,000 spectators braved inclement weather to watch locked-out NHL players and a handful of former professionals lace up the skates at an outdoor charity hockey game. Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff. Team Gilmour rallied in the third period to defeat Team Staios 11-6. Proceeds of the Our Game To Give event went to the Tsunami Relief Fund of the Canadian Red Cross and Camp Trillium, the Ontario facility for children with cancer.
On January 21, 2012, Ivor Wynne hosted a regular season game of the American Hockey League, between the Toronto Marlies and the Hamilton Bulldogs. It was the first outdoor game in Canada in the league's history and the fourth in an annual series of outdoor AHL games.[13]
Grey Cup
Ivor Wynne Stadium hosted the Grey Cup three times:
- in 1944, when the Flying Wildcats were defeated by a wartime team from the Montreal Navy
- in 1972, with a win by the hometown Tiger-Cats over Saskatchewan before a capacity crowd
- 1996, when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats did not play. In the Edmonton Eskimos.[9]
Grey Cup | Date | Champion | Score | Loser | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
32nd Grey Cup | November 25, 1944 | Montreal Navy | 7–6 | Hamilton Flying Wildcats | 3,871 |
60th Grey Cup | December 3, 1972 | Hamilton Tiger Cats | 13–10 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 33,993 |
84th Grey Cup | November 24, 1996 | Toronto Argonauts | 43–37 | Edmonton Eskimos | 38,595 |
See also
- List of sports venues in Hamilton, Ontario
- List of Canadian Football League stadiums
- Venues of the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games
- List of Commonwealth Games venues
Notes
- ^ a b c "Ivor Wynne Stadium: History". Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Edwards, Drew (October 27, 2012). "A farewell to Ivor Wynne". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved November 24, 2013..
- ^ "John Richard Cornelius". My Hamilton: Gallery of Distinction. Hamilton Public Library. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
Head of the Physical Education Department at Central Collegiate Institute, his teams of teenage runners for four decades smashed records making the Collegiate's name familiar across North America. Acclaimed as one of the most successful coaches in the world, and the greatest in Canada, during one twelve-year period, his team won even first at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, including three world records in one afternoon, an unparalleled feat.
- ^ "Tearing Down Hamilton's History: Civic Stadium". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved November 24, 2013.. Three illustrations.
- ^ Prete, Carmelina (October 17, 1998). "Radio host runs afoul of Wynne family in bid to rename stadium". The Hamilton Spectator.
- ^ "Hamilton votes for a city report on renovating Ivor Wynne". January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Ivor Wynne Stadium Plan Approved For Pan-Am Games".
- ^ "University of Guelph's Alumni Field to host Ticats in 2013". Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
- ^ a b Fisher, Ben (October 22, 2012). "The Rouge: What's your favourite memory of Ivor Wynne?". Bell Media. Archived from the original on February 20, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
- ^ "The first concert in 33 years at Ivor Wynne... and the last!". October 1, 2012. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
- ^ "The Night Was Chilly But the Hip Were Hot". The Hamilton Spectator. October 9, 2012. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012.
- ^ "Interview: The Tragically Hip go back to Plan A". Shaw, Inc. October 5, 2012. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
- ^ "Bulldogs to host Marlies outdoors at Ivor Wynne Jan. 21". The Sports Network. August 30, 2011. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012.