It's a temporary home, and it won't have a dome.
This Canadian Football League season, the B.C. Lions will play their home games at Empire Field, a 27,500-seat facility located on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. Empire Field sits on the same site as the old Empire Stadium and will give the Lions the opportunity to play outside for the first time since the early 1980s.
The move outdoors -- necessitated by renovations to B.C. Place Stadium that will see the air-supported ceiling replaced by a retractable roof -- has generated a buzz around the Lions. Fans are excited about the chance to watch football in an atmosphere-rich setting and the players are equally pumped up about the change in scenery.
"I can't wait," said Lions slotback Paris Jackson, who was in Prince George on Saturday for a Play With the Pros camp. "Growing up in North Vancouver, we always heard of Empire Stadium and what it was like but while I was being raised, they had B.C. Place Stadium. It's nice to have (Empire Field) for a year. It will bring back some old memories and I think it will bring back some old fans. Big-time B.C. Lions fans in the early 80s and 70s will come back and support us again."
See Monday's Citizen for more.
