TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have revealed renderings for the first phase of their upcoming Rogers Centre renovation, a $300-million, privately-funded project that will begin this off-season.
While the full renovation will impact nearly every part of the stadium’s interior, including a full overhaul of the 33-year-old building’s lower bowl, this winter’s work will focus primarily on Rogers Centre’s outfield.
The ballpark’s bullpens will be raised from the field of play and surrounded by both traditional and bleacher seating, as well as viewing platforms that will allow fans to watch relievers warming up to enter games. Several new fan congregation areas will be added around the 100- and 200-level, while outfield seating closest to the field will extend forward to the ballpark’s realigned walls.
The club’s renderings depict a bar in the right field corner and seating within the outfield walls. Along the 500 level, where the current seats have been untouched since the building opened in 1989, two new social decks will overlook left and right field.
Beneath the surface, the club will build a new family area and a 5,000-square-foot weight room for its players, as well as staff locker rooms. The ultimate goal is to recreate the environment and facilities Blue Jays players and staff have access to in Dunedin, Fla., where the club recently opened a state-of-the-art player development complex.
The Rogers Centre renovation is being piloted by Populous, the same architectural firm that designed the club’s new Dunedin facility. The project is intended to buy the Blue Jays 10-15 years to envision a longer-term solution for its outdated stadium, MLB’s seventh oldest. Work will be conducted in phases over future winters, pausing during the regular season so the Blue Jays can play their home schedule uninterrupted.
Originally, the Blue Jays envisioned splitting the renovation over two off-seasons, completing around 30 per cent of the work this winter and the final 70 per cent in the winter of 2023-24. But the club is now framing the project as one that will be “phased over the coming two to three off-seasons,” suggesting some work could spill over to the winter of 2024-25.
Renovation plans for the 2023-24 off-season have yet to be finalized but are expected to address the infield portion of the 100-level, field-level premium spaces, clubhouses, and player facilities. The club is not currently planning to upgrade Rogers Centre’s roof, exterior, or turf.
This will be Rogers Centre’s first major renovation since the stadium opened. In recent years, the club has made several smaller-scale upgrades throughout the building, including replacing the playing surface in 2021, and installing a new, 8,000-square-foot video board prior to the 2022 season.
Editor’s Note: One of the 30 MLB teams, the Toronto Blue Jays, is owned by Rogers Communications Inc., which also owns Sportsnet.
