I know that it is old news to some but Empire is complete. The BC Lions have played a couple of games there already and will play the entire season there. The Whitecaps will continue to play this season from Swangard before moving over to Empire for the beginning of next season.Here are a few picture's of Empire that were actually taken by Tyler Green of the Team 1040 and posted on his twitter. The ones of BC place are a couple weeks old I took them as I went up the Harbour Centre Tower. Whitecaps CEO, Paul Barber called Empire a world class facility and said that it was as close as you could get to a true English Football Stadium in North America. I think it is really a shame that they won't be able to play in it for longer then half a season but the reality of the situation is that it is in a less then ideal part of town for transit and for parking.
It definitely has one of the best settings for views of the mountains as you will notice in the picture to the right. Although its hard to top the scene at Swangard. Really though, Swangard is in Burnaby. The coolest thing in my opinion as far as Empire is concerned, is how its located beside the PNE. If you are heading west on Hastings the view of this neat little stadium against the backdrop of roller coasters is pretty neat. I'll try to snap some pics this week also.By July of 2011 the Whitecaps are expecting to move into BC Place which should have 2 retractable ceilings the first one to be on the top of the dome creating a actual retractable roof.
While the second would close off the upper bowl reducing the stadium from a cavernous 60,000+ person venue down to an intimate 20,000 + person venue. The computer generated images I have posted don't show the new Whitecaps branding but they definitely give you a great example of
the difference between the usage of the two systems for changing capacity.
As the week progresses I will try to get pictures of the construction going on at BC Place.
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