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Jarry
Park
Montreal,
Canada
Jarry Park became home to the Montreal Expos
in 1969 after MLB awarded Montreal a baseball team in
1968. At first a 25,000 seat stadium was chosen for the team to
begin playing in but that idea was dropped after the city declined to spend $7
million on the stadium. A 3,000 seat stadium known as Jarry Park was
selected as the location for the team to play at until a new stadium
could be built. Montreal’s Mayor Jean Drapeau ensured that the
ballpark seating could be increased to 30,000. Opening day came on
April 14, 1969 when over 29,000 fans filled Jarry Park. One tier of
seating extended from the right field foul pole to home plate and
to the left field foul pole and bleacher seating in left
field. A scoreboard was located behind the outfield fence that was
made up of wire in right field. Originally, the Expos believed that they
would have been in a new stadium by 1972, but that turned out to be
untrue. By 1974, there was talk of possibly revoking the franchise
because a new stadium had not been built. However, Montreal was
awarded the 1976 Olympics Games and a new stadium was built. The
Expos played their last game at Jarry Park on September 26, 1976
and moved into
Olympic Stadium in 1977. Today, Jarry Park is still used as a
major venue for concerts, exhibitions and professional tennis
matches.
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