Ivor Wynne Stadium
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| Former names | Civic Stadium (1930–1969) |
|---|---|
| Location | 75 Balsam Ave. North Hamilton, Ontario L8L 8C1 |
| Owner | City of Hamilton |
| Capacity | Football: 29,600 |
| Surface |
AstroPlay 2003 to 2012 Astroturf 1970 to 2002 Grass 1930 to 1969 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Closed | October 27, 2012 |
| Demolished | December 2012 - April 2013 |
| Construction cost | Unknown |
| Architect | Unknown |
| Tenants | |
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Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL) (1950–2012) Hamilton Wildcats (1941–49) Hamilton Minor Football Association McMaster Marauders (U Sports) (2005–2007) Vanier Cup (2004, 2005, 2008) 1930 British Empire Games |
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Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood Avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL from 1950 until it closed on October 27, 2012. The club's previous home was the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds. The stadium was replaced by Tim Hortons Field, with a fixed capacity of 24,000, on the same property.
From 1928, while the stands were still under construction, the civic stadium was mainly used for track & field by the Hamilton Olympic Club and men's soccer teams, while the Hamilton AAA was used more for football and cricket. The stadium had a cinder track where the Cap Cornelius secondary-school relays were held.
The stadium, called simply the civic stadium (lower cased), was originally built in 1928 to host the 1930 British Empire Games (later the Commonwealth Games). However, playing fields had stood on the site since the city bought the land from a local farmer in 1913.
The stadium was heavily rebuilt in 1970-71. In 1971, it was renamed for Ivor Wynne, a former chairman of the city Parks Board who was Athletic Director and Dean of Students at McMaster University when he died in 1970. He was considered to be largely responsible for creating McMaster's physical education course and planning its athletic complex. From 1971 to 1975, Ivor Wynne was the largest stadium in the CFL with 34,500 seats.
Ivor Wynne was the second facility in Canada to use Astroturf, after Empire Stadium in Vancouver. In the 1980s, the west endzone bleachers were removed so that a new scoreboard could be added. That dropped capacity to about 29,500. A later retrofit of the north stand's lower east section for handicapped access in the 1990s dropped capacity further to just under 29,000.
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