Second phase of Rogers Center renovations underway

TORONTO – The Rogers Center is unrecognizable after extensive renovations began last month at the downtown Toronto arena.

The Toronto Blue Jays released photos of the demolition of most of the lower stadium on Tuesday. Photos and videos show that the field and all the seats on the 100 level have been torn out.

The Major League Baseball team says 29.5 million pounds of materials were removed from the stadium from Oct. 13-26. That amount includes 26.5 million pounds of concrete and three million pounds of steel.

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According to the Blue Jays, a temporary bridge was installed over the site of the former seating area. At the height of the demolition and excavation work, 10 excavators were on site with 344 trucks entering and exiting the Rogers Center over the temporary bridge in one day.

It’s the second phase of renovations at Rogers Center, which will become MLB’s sixth-oldest active stadium once the A’s complete their move from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas.

Rogers Center’s upper bowl underwent significant changes last offseason.

For the new phase of demolition, an average of 350 workers have been on site daily, more than three times the number of workers compared to the first phase demolition.

Formwork for the new construction began and the first new concrete was poured the same day the demolition was completed. The Blue Jays say 500 truckloads of concrete are expected to be poured to complete the project.

The first structural steel column was installed on November 13. A total of 2.4 million pounds of structural steel was fabricated off-site and will be installed at the Rogers Center to complete the project.

The team says the second phase of the Rogers Center renovations will be complete by the home opener on April 8.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.