Exhibition Stadium

Exhibition Stadium was a stadium located in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1948 and was home to the  team between 1959 and 1988, the   team between 1977 and 1989 and the   team between 1979 and 1983, the stadium was demolished in 1999, served as a parking lot until 2006 when  was built in place.

History
Demolished in 1999, it was the home of the from their entry into  in 1977 until their move to  in 1989, and the  of the  from 1959 to 1988.

Name the MLB stadium where you had a great chance of seeing snow falling while baseball is being played and where you can sit 600 feet away from homeplate. If you guessed Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, you are correct! Before the Blue Jays landed in Toronto, minor league baseball was played in the city between 1896 and 1967. Not to be confused with hockey’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the Minor League Baseball franchise, Maple Leafs played at Maple Leaf Stadium from 1908 to 1967. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Maple Leaf’s owner Jack Kent Cooke tired to get Toronto to construct a new ballpark in an effort to lure a MLB team to the city. That effort failed and the Maple Leaf’s franchise was bought and moved to Louisville, KY after the 1967 season.

In an effort to attract a MLB franchise to the City of Toronto, a $15 million bond was approved to enlarge CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) Stadium in 1974. In 1976 the San Francisco Giants nearly moved to Toronto after local investors purchased the team. However, the newly elected San Francisco major and capital kept the team in San Francisco. The following year Major League Baseball awarded Toronto an expansion franchise, the Blue Jays. Snow covered the field when the Toronto Blue Jays played their first game at Exhibition Stadium on April 7, 1977 against the Chicago White Sox. After the stadium was reconfigured for baseball it still looked primarily like a football stadium. The original grandstand was constructed on the north side of the stadium in 1948 and had a capacity of 20,000. This section of seating formed the nucleus of the facility. The original north grandstand was revamped, the south stands were replaced and a new section of seats were added between the north and south stands to create a baseball field prior to the start of the 1977 season. A stadium club and VIP boxes were also constructed. The main covered grandstand became part of the left field. A 12 foot fence formed the outfield wall that began at the left field foul pole and then curved across the AstroTurf field at the 40 yard line. A large open area was behind the right field fence. The scoreboard was located on the far end past the right field fence.

NASCAR track
In 1952, a 1/3-mile paved oval was inserted into the stadium and a 'golden era' of short course racing began.With the large grandstand providing an elevated viewing point, the events proved an immediate hit and crowds of 20,000 were not unusual.

The stock cars remained popular throughout the 1950s and the drivers became heroes. Then in 1958 came the event that saw it claim a slice of NASAR history, when the Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup) rolled into town. Among the starters was a 21-year-old Richard Petty, making his main series debut. He ran well until being shown the 'chrome horn' by his own father, Lee, who went on to win the race...

The NASCAR stars never returned – there was more interest from the fans for the local stars – and racing continued for several years until complaints from the Toronto Argonauts football team that their pitch was being damaged by errant racecars called a halt to proceedings. The asphalt was torn up and converted to a cinder track and the engines fired up no more.