Sneak Peek: Empire Field

Comments 7 by Rebecca Bollwitt Thursday, June 17th, 2010 — 2:45pm PDT

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Empire Field (at Empire Fields with Empire Stadium around it) will host the BC Lions‘ home opener this Sunday. I’ll be heading over for a preview tomorrow and will also be at the game on Sunday however my camera-toting husband got a bit a a preview earlier this week. Although it’s temporary (aka TEmpire Stadium) and made of scaffolding, he says it’s simply “gorgeous” – what do you think?

Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

You can view the rest of John’s photos on Flickr.

Update June 18, 2010 I attended the media preview at Empire Field today. John was right, it’s pretty stunning once you’re inside the temporary stadium. I snapped a few shots of the facilities, the outdoor concession, and other features around the field.

The rubber pellets in the turf can be added or removed (as the specific sport being played at the time calls for them) and they are made from recycled tires. The turf is built to FIFA standards and will remain at Empire Fields as a legacy for the community. The backing on the turf is made of soybean-based polyurethane.

Capacity is 27,500. There are seats along the sides and benches in at each end.

The assembly period was 111 days and it was built by Nussli Special Events (Canada).

There are 125,000 single pieces of scaffolding that combine to make the stadium.

The four main lighting towers will also remain at Empire Fields for community use.

The President of PavCo (B.C. Pavilion Corporation) said, “all we are missing is a corn field and Ray Kinsella,” which made me giggle. I’m not sure it’s Field of Dreams but it’s a pretty spectacular structure.

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7 Comments — Comments Are Closed

RussellThursday, June 17th, 2010 — 2:52pm PDT
Wow, very nice looking stadium for something that will be “temporary”. Will also be a great venu for the Whitecaps. Glad to see Empire Stadium back.
Sam ReynoldsThursday, June 17th, 2010 — 2:59pm PDT
I can’t believe that this stadium is only “temporary”. I wonder how much it cost. It will certainly be awesome for summer games!
AshleeFriday, June 18th, 2010 — 10:40am PDT
Check out an awesome outdoor summer football game and help out Big Brothers! We’re selling tickets to the July 16th game for just $30. That’s $5 off the regular price AND $5 comes to Big Brothers! Follow this link and use the password BGBRTHRS to buy tickets. https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/group_corp_start.htmI?l=EN&team=bclions&owner=1710970&group=12&err=&event=&customerID=
Ian Andrew BellFriday, June 18th, 2010 — 11:33am PDT
Awesome sight lines. Would make an awesome summer music venue.

I hear the bathrooms are .. uh .. slightly less than pleasant?

Where exactly does one go to rent a temporary aluminum stadium?
Jon StrocelFriday, June 18th, 2010 — 7:18pm PDT
Drove by the stadium today, the pictures look great for a temporary building. Much better than I thought it would be.
LeeTuesday, June 22nd, 2010 — 6:42pm PDT
This stadium should be permanent! The intimate seating is perfectly configured for football and the outdoor setting and local topography is spectacular. Quite simply this location is head and shoulders above BC Place – new roof or not. I would actually not be surprised if people are underwhelmed by BC Place because of this. The setting will certainly not be this magical.
Being a part of history at Empire Field while helping spread it through social media → johnbollwitt.comWednesday, August 4th, 2010 — 3:24pm PDT
[…] Rebecca also has a post with many of my photos as well as her trip to see the field on the day it was unveiled to the media. […]