SkyDome, now the Rogers Centre, opened in Toronto on June 3, 1989, with a gala in which rain fell on the crowd as the roof opened. The Blue Jays played their first game there on June 5, 1989. Reported costs run from about $500 million to $650 million with interest, and the Toronto Argonauts moved in for the same year.
Why Toronto wanted a dome
The idea of a covered ballpark in Toronto is older than the Blue Jays. The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) says Paul Godfrey, the Metro Toronto chairman, was already promoting a domed stadium in the 1970s, before the city had a major-league baseball team. A TVO oral history gives a more specific push. After the 1982 Grey Cup, played in rain at Exhibition Stadium, fans chanted for a dome. Premier Bill Davis and Godfrey were sympathetic, and the project that followed was meant to give both baseball and football a home in all weather.
SABR reports that Davis’s Ontario government proposed the stadium in 1983 with an estimated cost of $150 million. The site first discussed was Downsview Park. It was moved to a former Canadian National railway yard near the CN Tower, and SABR says the rail lands were selected in January 1985. The CN Tower’s own story is in the article on the CN Tower. TVO notes that the site was controversial.
A Crown corporation called the Stadium Corporation of Ontario ran the project. TVO identifies Chuck Magwood as the head of the Crown corporation responsible. David Peterson’s Liberals took power in 1985, and Peterson says his government went ahead with a project that an earlier government had planned.
Design and construction
TVO says the architect Rod Robbie won an open competition for the design, and the structural engineer Michael Allen worked out how a retractable roof could function. Robbie’s daughter told TVO that he painted watercolours to convey his vision. The overview of the Rogers Centre covers the building as it is today.
Wikipedia gives October 3, 1986 as the groundbreaking date, but the page does not cite it. SABR says official construction began in 1983, which appears to refer to the government’s proposal that year. The dates differ, so the 1986 groundbreaking is best read as likely but unconfirmed. The project was rushed. Magwood told TVO that plans often arrived the same morning the work was being done, and that the city issued its occupancy permit two days before the opening gala.
A hotel was added to the side of the stadium during construction, together with restaurants, a health club and luxury suites. Peterson told TVO the hotel drew controversy, since it enlarged the project after work had started.
The roof
The roof was the reason SkyDome drew attention around the world. Building Big, a PBS engineering series, describes four large steel panels. One stays fixed behind centre field. Two slide and pass over each other and under the fixed panel. The third starts behind home plate and rotates on a circular rail. The panels are steel trusses with a corrugated steel shell and a weatherproof plastic membrane. They move at 71 feet a minute on steel tracks, and the roof opens or closes in under 20 minutes. Building Big gives a diameter of 674 feet and a weight above 11,000 tons. SABR says the roof weighs about 11,000 metric tons and rose 282 feet.
The roof also had a limit. Wikipedia reports that it cannot be moved in cold weather. That is a secondary-source statement, so check the operator for the current rule on any given day.
What it cost
Reported costs differ, and the difference is part of the story. SABR says the original construction contract was $184.2 million, that added features raised the budget to $527 million, and that the final cost including interest is estimated at $650 million. Building Big gives $500 million. A SABR account of the first game says the stadium cost over $550 million. Wikipedia gives $570 million, citing two sources, and says the first estimate was $150 million.
TVO reports that Metro Toronto’s government considered pulling its funding several times because of the rising price. In the SABR game account, the province ended up liable for the remaining debt. Wikipedia says the Crown corporation’s debt grew from $165 million to $400 million by 1993. Because the sources count different things, such as construction alone, interest, or later debt, no single figure is called the cost here.
Opening night, June 3, 1989
The official opening was a Saturday gala on June 3, 1989. TVO says Alan Thicke and Andrea Martin hosted it. When rain began, Premier Peterson gave the signal to open the roof, and SABR says it was done with a laser pointer. The crowd was soaked. TVO quotes Magwood estimating about 45,000 people, which is a participant’s estimate, not a counted attendance. SABR adds that the variety show was spoiled by the rain and that the crowd booed.
Reaction to the building itself was warmer. Manager Cito Gaston called it the best he had seen, SABR reports, and catcher Ernie Whitt said the roof won him over even though he preferred older parks.
The Blue Jays and the first game
The Toronto Blue Jays played their first two months of 1989 home games at Exhibition Stadium, on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, according to Wikipedia. Their first game in the new building came two days after the gala, on June 5, 1989. The Milwaukee Brewers won 5 to 3 before 48,378 people, then the largest home crowd in Toronto, SABR reports. Anne Murray sang the anthems. Jimmy Key threw the first pitch and pitched a complete game of 141 pitches. Paul Molitor hit the first double, Fred McGriff hit the first home run, and George Bell hit a solo home run for Toronto’s only run in the eighth inning.
SABR says the Blue Jays set a major-league attendance record on September 17, 1990, and in 1991 became the first club to draw more than four million fans. The club won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, as covered in the article on the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Argonauts, ownership and a new name
The Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League moved in for 1989. SABR says they played at SkyDome for 27 seasons, from 1989 to 2015, and the full story is in the article on the Toronto Argonauts.
The first owners did not keep the building. Wikipedia reports that the stadium filed for bankruptcy protection in November 1998 and that Sportsco International bought it in April 1999 for $80 million. The hotel was sold to Renaissance in 1999. Rogers Communications bought the stadium in November 2004 for about $25 million, excluding the hotel, and Wikipedia says the new name was announced on February 2, 2005. SABR and TVO both say the stadium was renamed in 2004, so dates for the name change differ by source.
Frequently asked questions
When did SkyDome open?
The official opening gala was on June 3, 1989. The Blue Jays played the first baseball game there on June 5, 1989, losing 5 to 3 to Milwaukee.
How long does the roof take to open?
About 20 minutes, according to SABR and to the engineering series Building Big. The roof has four panels, one of them fixed.
How much did SkyDome cost to build?
Sources differ. Building Big gives $500 million, Wikipedia $570 million, and SABR estimates $650 million including interest. The original estimate was $150 million.
Who designed SkyDome?
TVO says the architect Rod Robbie won the design competition and the structural engineer Michael Allen worked out how the retractable roof could function.
When did SkyDome become the Rogers Centre?
Rogers Communications bought the stadium in November 2004. Wikipedia says the new name was announced February 2, 2005, while SABR and TVO say the renaming happened in 2004.
Sources
- Society for American Baseball Research, Baseball Index, “SkyDome (Toronto)” park entry (accessed October 2026)
- Society for American Baseball Research, Games Project, “June 5, 1989: Blue Jays play first game in SkyDome” (accessed October 2026)
- TVO, “It Works, Toronto: An Oral History of the SkyDome” (accessed October 2026)
- PBS, Building Big, “SkyDome” (accessed October 2026)
- Wikipedia, “Rogers Centre” (accessed October 2026), used only for statements attributed to it
Related reading
- Rogers Centre overview
- Toronto Blue Jays history
- Toronto Argonauts history
- CN Tower history
- Canadian National Exhibition history
Last verified: November 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, November 1). SkyDome Opening in 1989: How Toronto Built a Stadium with a Roof. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/skydome-rogers-centre-opening-1989
MLA: “SkyDome Opening in 1989: How Toronto Built a Stadium with a Roof.” History of Toronto, 1 Nov 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/skydome-rogers-centre-opening-1989. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “SkyDome Opening in 1989: How Toronto Built a Stadium with a Roof.” Last modified November 1, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/skydome-rogers-centre-opening-1989.
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