Shell Place
Coordinates: 56°44′09″N 111°23′04″W / 56.73583°N 111.38444°W
Shell Place is a sports, recreation and mixed use complex now under construction in Fort McMurray, Alberta, which will include SMS Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium and performance venue, as well as a field house, badminton centre, softball and baseball tournament facility, non-profit and meeting spaces, and recreation trail.
The stadium hosted "Northern Kickoff", a June 13, 2015 season-opening exhibition game between the Canadian Football League teams Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the first major sporting event held at the new facility as well as the most northerly outdoor professional football game in history.[1] In a last-minute addition to the 2015 CFL schedule, the Toronto Argonauts also hosted a regular season home game against the Eskimos at Shell Place on June 27 of the same year.[2]
Shell Place is a $127 million addition to the preexisting MacDonald Island Park. SMS Stadium will have close to 5,000 fixed seats and will be capable of holding over 20,000 people.[3]
The North American Soccer League's FC Edmonton will play two regular season games at Shell Place during the 2015 NASL season. The first match, on July 5, will see the host Eddies take on the San Antonio Scorpions for the Wood Buffalo Cup, named for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. On August 2, FC Edmonton will play Canadian rivals Ottawa Fury.
Shell Place was unaffected by the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and reopened for the summer in June 2016.
References
- ↑ "Turf installed at Shell Place". Fort McMurray Today. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ↑ No joke, CFL schedule takes turn for bizarre in 2015
- ↑ Wells, Theresa. "Inside Shell Place". Your McMurray Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2014.