Toronto’s SkyDome was a testament to modern engineering upon its 1989 opening, but after 36 years and $400 million in renovations, the ballpark where many locals grew up cheering on the Blue Jays — now known as the Rogers Centre — has changed in appearance, vibe, and countless other ways over the decades.
Whether you can’t stand the current corporate branding or just thrive on ’90s nostalgia, it’s easy to get lost in memories of the SkyDome that once was.
Here are some of the things we miss most about the Rogers Centre’s SkyDome era, spanning 1989 to 2004.
Fireworks…indoors?
A Blue Jays game in the 1990s could get quite loud. Of course, there was that still-familiar raucous crowd cheering on the home team, but a Jays home run during those glory days came with a pyrotechnic display that would ignite (and, to some degree, deafen) the crowd until the practice was halted in the early 2000s.
Getting your game-time McDonald’s fix
Look, I am not going to try to argue that McD’s is fine dining by any means, but there was something about being a little kid in an already overstimulating environment charged up with emotions and the thrill of the aforementioned fireworks, only to realize you were also about to get McNuggets.
The Golden Arches stalls were phased out of the dome after roughly a decade of selling marked-up McEats (including the legendary McPizza) to hungry ballpark patrons.
Homers launched to the Hard Rock Cafe
If McD’s wasn’t your scene, the Hard Rock Cafe was a sit-down dining option overlooking the field and immortalized in classic broadcasts by its giant, glowing neon sign visible from pretty much anywhere in the stadium. The restaurant departed in 2009 after a decade of serving Blue Jays fans.
Hitting a home run off or over the Hard Rock Cafe windows was a rare honour at the dome, with the restaurant living on in footage of iconic dingers, like this 1996 moonshot from Ken Griffey Jr.
Neon lights everywhere
Despite its then-futuristic design, the popular tastes of the late ’80s left a lasting mark on the dome. You can still see traces of these design choices in the mostly-burnt-out neon lights that still exist along section entrances in the 500 Level concourse.
These lights were previously located in all concourses, but have been removed over time during renovations.
Similarly, gate entrances were once marked by neon lights, which have since been replaced by modern LED lighting.
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That Coca-Cola Song
Even before the SkyDome was taken over by corporate telecom overlords, there was no shortage of capitalism at play in the cavernous ballpark. In fact, a Coca-Cola jingle popular in the early ’90s was even retooled with lyrics about the Blue Jays, before eventually just blatantly devolving into a refrain of “Always Coca-Cola.”
Somehow, it became something of a theme song for the team, to the likely chagrin of Pepsi drinkers. Would I fall for it today? Probably not. But in the early ’90s, my feeble child brain drank it in like an ice-cold glass of corn syrup and caramel colouring.
The song was briefly revived with some updates for the Jays’ 2015 postseason run, but has been absent ever since.
That weird Domer mascot
Sure, most longtime Jays fans remember the questionably-named mascot, BJ Birdie. But for those of us who simply liked turtles, there was the green SkyDome-logo-emblazoned Domer.
Designed by Canadian animation studio Nelvana, this friendly turtle helped shape SkyDome’s identity. Domer has mostly been phased out over the years, though he still makes the odd appearance at promotional events.
So, while the SkyDome name could perhaps return one day, there are just some things about Toronto’s beloved retractable-roof stadium that will just have to live on in our memories.
