Sports at Hastings Park

Sports have played an integral part in shaping the history and character of Hastings Park and the PNE over the years. Most of Vancouver’s professional sports teams had their start at Hastings Park and the park continues to host a wide ranges of community, professional and international sporting events.

Pacific Coliseum

The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks played at the Pacific Coliseum for 24 seasons (from 1970 to 1995), making Stanley Cup appearances in 1982 and 1994. The Coliseum now home to the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants . In February 2010 the Coliseum hosted the Short Track Speed Skating and Figure Skating events during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games .

Agrodome

The PNE Agrodome hosts sporting events during the year, including the annual BC high school basketball championships and the Hastings Minor Hockey League.

Empire Fields

For decades, Empire Stadium was home to many sporting events. Notable moments include the 1954 British Empire Games, when Roger Bannister and John Landy both ran a sub-four-minute mile in the same race, the first time that feat had been accomplished. The stadium also hosted the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions the Lion’s first home game at Empire Stadium was August 28, 1954. The Lions lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8-6. Empire Stadium hosted the first Grey Cup west of Ontario in 1955.

Empire Stadium also hosted the North American Soccer League’s Vancouver Whitecaps until the early 1980s. In 2001 Empire Bowl was turned over from parking to community use and renamed Empire Fields.

In 2010, a temporary stadium was built at Empire Fields to host the BC Lions and other events until the retractable roof for BC Place Stadium is completed in late 2011. Community sports use has been temporarily relocated for this time period. Once the stadium is dismantled, legacy items such as the synthetic turf field and lighting will be adapted to return Empire back to community use. This includes synthetic turf sports fields, softball diamonds and a jogging track integrated with new pedestrian and bicycle trails.

The detailed design for Empire Fields and these proposed uses will require further study and public consultation. This is planned to occur in 2011, check the public consultation section for updates.

Skateboard Park

"...prime Canadian concrete....The park is huge....bowls, hips, curves & metal coping all the way around. The whole thing is connected....more streety section with a funbox, quarter pipes, flat banks, ledges, rails, & a step-up ledge. The whole kit & kaboodle was designed by skaters for skaters, & it's as close to perfect as anything built for skating. Go to Vancouver & have more fun than you've ever had-guaranteed."

- Transworld Skateboard Magazine

 

 

 

Need we say more… three skateboard bowls and a street course next to Gate of Renfrew Street are open daily from dawn until dusk. For more information call 604.257.8400.

Basketball and hard court sports can be played on the courts adjacent to the skatepark.

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