Memorial Stadium (St. John's)

Memorial Stadium was a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. St. John's previous indoor arena, Prince's Rink, burned down in November 1941, but the demands of the Second World War prevented the city from replacing it until well after the war ended. In 1948, a Citizens' Committee was established to raise funds to build a new arena to be named in honour of Newfoundlanders who lost their lives in that war. Fundraising went slowly until in 1954, St. John's City Council floated a bond to finance the facility, which then became property of the city. It officially opened in 1955.[1]

Memorial Stadium
Location20 Lake Avenue, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
OwnerCity of St. John's
CapacityHockey: 4,190
Construction
Broke ground1952
Opened1955
Closed2001
Demolished2006 (interior only)
Construction cost$7,000,000
Tenants
St. John's Maple Leafs (AHL) (1991–2000)

It is the former home of the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League (1991–2001). The stadium played host to many events, such as an exhibition game featuring the local senior hockey team, the St. John's Caps and the Soviet Red Army. It also played host to two NBA exhibition games and musical acts, as well as Pope John Paul II. Wooden bleachers were used throughout the building's earlier life, and plastic seats were installed later, towards the beginning of the stadium's AHL tenure. Memorial Stadium closed in 2001, replaced by Mile One Centre.

Dominion Memorial Market

The interior structure of the building was later torn down, and in July 2006, after much controversy,[2] construction started on a new Dominion supermarket. Coincidentally, the parent company of Dominion in Newfoundland, Loblaw Companies, converted part of Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the former stadium of the Maple Leafs' parent club, to a Loblaws supermarket; both projects were approved despite grassroots protests.

On September 21, 2007 Mayor Andy Wells cut the ribbon opening Dominion Memorial Market. The converted stadium is unlike any other supermarket in Atlantic Canada. Some features include underground parking, escalators, and shopping cart conveyors. The store also retains the scoreboard from the stadium's days as a hockey arena.

See also

References
  1. Baker, Melvin. "A History of St. John's City Council, 1888 to 1981". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 2 (1984). Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  2. Steve Bartlett (September 22, 2007). "Dominion Memorial gets mixed reaction". Western Star. Retrieved 23 April 2011.

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