page_title: Exhibition Place
section_title: Exhibition Stadium (former stadium)
hierarchical_section_title: Exhibition Place / Buildings / Sports venues / Exhibition Stadium (former stadium)
caption_attribution_description: English: Exhibition Stadium in 1992
context_page_description: Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197-acre site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial, and national historic sites. The district's facilities are used year-round for exhibitions, trade shows, public and private functions, and sporting events.
  From mid-August through Labour Day each year, the Canadian National Exhibition, from which the name Exhibition Place is derived, is held on the grounds. During the CNE, Exhibition Place encompasses 260 acres, expanding to include nearby parks and parking lots. The CNE uses the buildings for exhibits on agriculture, food, arts and crafts, government and trade displays. For entertainment, the CNE provides a midway of rides and games, music concerts at the Bandshell, featured shows at the Coliseum, and the Canadian International Air Show. The fair is one of the largest and most successful of its kind in North America and an important part of the culture of Toronto.
context_section_description: The CNE has been host to four grandstands since its inception. The third grandstand, designed by G. W. Gouinlock, was built in 1907 and had a capacity of 16,000. It burned down in 1946, subsequently leading to the construction of the fourth (known as CNE Grandstand), built in 1948. Designed by architects Marani and Morris, this building was the first of what would prove to be several Modernist buildings built on the CNE grounds, its distinctive and bold cantilevered truss roof dominating the grounds for over 50 years. It initially housed 22,000 people, but was expanded over the years to a maximum of 54,000 in order to accommodate the additional seating required for major professional sports teams who made CNE Grandstand their home. It became the home base for the Toronto Argonauts football team, and later, to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. Architect Bill Sanford designed the alterations for baseball in 1976.
  A stock car race held on the grounds marked a historical race;  on July 18, 1958, Richard Petty made his NASCAR Grand National Series debut at Exhibition Stadium.
  In addition to sports, CNE Grandstand was the stage for many entertainers over the years. Famous comedians who were featured there included Bob Hope, Victor Borge, and Bill Cosby. Similarly, many well-known musical acts made an appearance at the venue, ranging from Duke Ellington, Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman, The Beach Boys (appearing there 11 times between 1974 and 1990), The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, to Melissa Etheridge, The Who,  Simon & Garfunkel, Sinéad O'Connor, Billy Idol, Nine Inch Nails and Tina Turner. After the grandstand was demolished, open-air concerts during the CNE have been held at the Bandshell.
  The Blue Jays and Argos left the open-air Exhibition Stadium for the retractable roofed Skydome (now, the Rogers Centre) in 1989. By that time it was recognized that the building was beginning to visibly decay, and was little used in its final decade of existence. Though it was the earliest of the modernist-style buildings on the grounds, it was the only one not to be become a historically listed building. It was finally demolished in 1999.
caption: Exterior of Exhibition Stadium in 1992, several years before it was demolished.
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