Empire Stadium (Vancouver)

Empire Stadium

1955 Grey Cup at Empire Stadium
Location	East Hastings Street, Vancouver
Owner	City of Vancouver
Capacity	32,729
Surface	Natural grass (1954–1969) Artificial turf (1970–1993)
Construction
Opened	1954
Demolished	1993
Tenants
BC Lions (CFL) (1954–1982) Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL) (1974–1983) Vancouver Royals (USA/NASL) (1967–1968) 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Empire Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium that stood at the Pacific National Exhibition site at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Track and field and Canadian football, as well as soccer and musical events, were held at the stadium. The stadium was originally constructed for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The stadium (which sat 32,375 upon opening, but 30,229 after 1974) hosted both Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It saw most of its use as the home of the BC Lions of the CFL from 1954 to 1982, in which the venue also played host to the first Grey Cup game held west of Ontario in 1955. Empire Stadium also hosted the Grey Cup game in 1958, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1971, and 1974; seven times in total.

Empire Stadium was often home to the Shrine Bowl Provincial Championship for provincial senior high school.

The stadium was also home to the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League during the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the Vancouver Royals of the same league for their only year of play in 1968.