Quick Facts

At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the famous "Miracle Mile" was achieved by Roger Bannister (Canadian) and John Landy (Australian) at Empire Stadium. This was the first time that two runners broke four minutes in the same race.

• Between 1997 and 2001 major park developments occurred in Hastings Park. The Sanctuary was completed in 1999, The Italian Gardens in 2000, and Empire Fields in 2001.
• The Sanctuary includes a pond. Water from the pond comes entirely from Hastings Park and the surrounding neighbourhood.
• The Coliseum is the venue for figure skating and short-track speed skating athletes during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
• Empire Fields used to be the site of Empire Stadium, which was built in 1954 for the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
• The stadium which sat 32, 375 people was Vancouver's venue for both Elvis Presley and The Beatles . The Stadium as also home of the BC Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer league.
• Hastings Park is the City of Vancouver’s second largest park at 162 acres (66 ha), and is considered a city-wide asset.
• Hastings Park was granted to the City by the Province in 1888. 
• Throughout most of the past 100 years, the site has been home to two institutions – the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) and the Hastings Racecourse.
• The PNE was founded in 1907 and has, since 1910, operated an annual fair in Hastings Park. 
• In 1973 the provincial government took over control of the PNE and made it a provincial institution
• In 2003 the Province handed control of the PNE back to the City of Vancouver
• The PNE is a non profit organization with the Board of Directors appointed by Vancouver City Council
• About 800,000 visit the fair annually, and about 350,000 enjoy the rides at Playland each year.
• Numerous community groups and film production companies rent the facilities at the park, as do the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants. 
• The PNE contributes about $115 million to the gross domestic product of Metro Vancouver
• The PNE creates approximately 3,700 direct jobs at the height of the summer fair, about 2,500 of those are created for young people.

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