Percival Molson Memorial Stadium

Percival Molson Memorial Stadium Stade Percival-Molson
Location	Montreal, Quebec
Opened	October 25, 1919
Owner	McGill University
Surface	FieldTurf installed in 2004
Construction cost	$100,000 (approx.) ($1.22 million in 2011 dollars[1]) Renovations: $29.4 million ($30.5 million in 2011 dollars[1]) Toal cost: C$31.7 million in 2011 dollars
Architect	Percy Erskine Nobbs
Capacity	Canadian football: 25,012[2]
Tenants
Montreal Alouettes (regular season) (CFL) (1998-present) Montreal Alouettes (CFL) (1947-1967) McGill Redmen (CIS)

The Montreal Neurological Institute wraps around one end of Molson Stadium.

Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (also known in French as Stade Percival-Molson; commonly referred to as Molson Stadium in English or Stade Molson in French) is an outdoor football stadium located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is owned by McGill University and is home to the McGill Redmen of the Quebec University Football League and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. The Selwyn House Gryphons high-school football team also play their home games at the stadium.

History

Montreal Alouettes cheerleaders entertain the crowd during a timeout in a game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 6, 2006, at Molson Stadium.

Construction was completed in 1914 on what was then known as McGill Graduates stadium, which was located on the slope of Mount Royal, at the corner of University and Pine (avenue Des Pins). The stadium sat dormant through World War I with the cessation of football from 1914 to 1918. On July 5, 1917, Captain Percival Molson, a McGill University alumnus and sports star who had been instrumental in getting the stadium plan approved, was killed in action in France. His will left $75,000 to the university to help pay most of the total costs for the completion of the stadium. Other individual donors whose generosity built and renovated the stadium were William C. Macdonald and John W. McConnell. Designed by Percy Erskine Nobbs,^[3] the stadium was officially renamed in honour of Molson in 1919.

The Montreal Alouettes have played most of their home games at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of McGill University, since November 1997. Until 2007, they played their last home regular season game at the Olympic Stadium. Any playoff games are played at the Olympic Stadium. Percival Molson stadium is also home of the Selwyn House Gryphons^{[citation needed]} and the McGill Redmen men's rugby and football teams. It was the home of the CFL Montreal Alouettes from 1947 to 1967. The only Grey Cup game to have been played at Molson Stadium was in 1931. It also served as a venue for field hockey during the 1976 Summer Olympics.^[4] It seated 20,202 and has been sold out for Alouettes games since August 12, 1999.^[5]

The Alouettes' decision to return to the venue was problematic because the team was being sponsored by the Labatt Brewing Company and the stadium shared the name of its major competitor, Molson, though not named for it. Eventually, the team chose to change sponsors, and have since been sponsored by Molson. In 2004, The Alouettes installed a FieldTurf surface at Molson Stadium which is still in use.

Renovation

Molson Stadium has been renovated and expanded, adding nearly 5,000 seats in time for the 2010 CFL season. The project to see the smallest CFL stadium increase to a seating capacity of 25,012 cost $29.4 million.

Eleven rows were removed from the south side of the stadium to construct a second tier and add the majority of the new seats, about 3,800. Also, temporary bleachers in the east end-zone have been replaced with 1,500 permanent seats, a new section has been added to the northeast corner, and 19 new private suites have been constructed. The cost of the renovations were shared by the Quebec government ($19.3 million), the city of Montreal ($4 million), and Robert Wetenhall, the Alouettes' owner ($6 million).^[6][7]

Layout

Because the playing surface is surrounded by a running track (see photo above), the full 65-yard width of the end zones is not available at the two end lines. However, the full width is available for more than half of each end zone, with the only missing pieces being the relatively small bits off the corners. This setup is not uncommon in Canadian football; another CFL stadium, Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, is configured in this manner.

See also

• List of Canadian Football League stadiums

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Canadian inflation numbers based on data available from Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Statistics Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2011 and Consumer Price Index, historical summary Statistics Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2010
2. ^ The Canadian Press (June 20, 2010). "'Als' well in Montreal in pre-season win". Canadian Football League. http://www.cfl.ca/article/als-well-in-montreal-in-pre-season-win. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
3. ^ Virtual McGill
4. ^ 1976 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. pp. 150-5.
5. ^ http://en.montrealalouettes.com/article/the_cfl_publishes_the_2008_schedule
6. ^ Zurkowsky, Herb (2009-03-08). "Expansion of Montreal's Molson Stadium approved". Montreal Gazette. http://www.canada.com/Sports/Expansion+Montreal+Molson+Stadium+approved/1367728/story.html. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
7. ^ "Molson Stadium to begin $29.4M expansion". CBC News. 2009-03-09. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2009/03/09/mtl-stadium-expansion.html. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 

Coordinates: 45°30′36.3″N 73°34′50.4″W / 45.510083°N 73.580667°W / 45.510083; -73.580667