The Rogers Centre opened in 1989 as the SkyDome, the first stadium anywhere with a fully retractable roof, and for a generation it was the most photographed building in Canada. It was also built as a stadium rather than a ballpark, which is the problem the current CAD $400 million programme is solving. Populous is design architect, PCL Construction the general contractor, and the money is private. The work happens in off-season windows, which means a demolition-and-rebuild sequence has to start after the last out and finish before opening day.
Project Scope
Phase 1, opened 11 April 2023: 500-level seating replaced with bars and drink rails, new outfield social decks, reworked WestJet Flight Deck at the 200 level.
Phase 2, 2023-24 off-season: full demolition and reconstruction of the 100-level seating bowl, foul pole to foul pole.
Seating bowl rebuilt closer to the field with infield-oriented sightlines, wider seats and greater legroom between the dugouts; foul territory reduced by roughly 3,000 square feet.
Three new premium clubs beneath the 100 level, plus a 5,000-square-foot player weight room and new player family and staff facilities.
Current phase, started after the 2025 World Series: Home Plate Terrace Club projecting out over the 200 level behind home plate, with a private Bremner Boulevard entrance, debuting spring 2026.
Retractable roof and existing structural frame retained throughout.
Why It Matters
Off-season renovation is a scheduling discipline that has almost no slack in it. PCL gets roughly five months between the end of one season and the start of the next, and the work in Phase 2 was a full seating-bowl demolition inside a building with a closed roof over it. Miss the date and the client is a major league team with a published home schedule.
The conversion logic is worth noting for anyone holding a 1980s multi-use venue. Rather than replace the building, the Blue Jays are spending a stadium-sized budget reshaping the parts fans actually touch, and keeping the roof, the frame and the site. For clubs that can’t get a public subsidy for a new park, that’s currently the only route to modern premium inventory.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Toronto Blue Jays |
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| Owner / Client | Rogers Communications |
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| Architect | Populous |
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| General Contractor | PCL Construction |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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