East Vancouver used to have the premier sports venue in the city.
Before BC Place, Empire Stadium was the go-to venue for massive events, be it the Queen of England, the Beatles or a Grey Cup championship.
These historic photos from the City of Vancouver archives show Empire Stadium as it hosted hundreds of events and hundreds of thousands of people over the decades.
Built in 1954 for the Commonwealth Games, it lasted almost 40 years, hosting everything from Elvis to high school track meets.
However, with a capacity of around 30,000 by the 1980s, it was surpassed in most standards by BC Place, which was bigger, covered, and offered more modern technology.
Empire Stadium was demolished in 1993.
The site is still used for sports though. Empire Fields at Hastings Park sits in the depression created for the massive stadium and there are a few nods to the former pillar of sports in Vancouver.
One is a statue of two men in a footrace. It depicts one of the most famous photos in sports, as Roger Bannister passed John Landy in the Miracle Mile race. At the time they were the only two people recorded who had run a mile in under four minutes; Bannister had broken the barrier earlier that year, only to have Landy beat it a month later.
After each qualified in their respective heats (with above four-minute times) the two faced off for the first time on Aug. 7, 1954, at Empire Stadium. While Landy led for most of the race, Bannister passed him at the end of the final curve (which is captured in a famous photo seen above). Both finished with times under four minutes. Third place went to a Canadian, Rich Ferguson, who crossed at just over four minutes.
That wasn't the only dramatic race at those games. Jim Peters, who held the world record time for marathon runners at the time (a record he set three times) led as the race arrived at Empire Stadium.
Not just led; he was on pace to break his own world record by 10 minutes.
Second place was an estimated 17 minutes behind.
But while on track Peters collapsed. He was able to get up, but collapsed again and had to be carried off.
While there is no statue of Peters there, a new piece of art has been erected which pays homage to all the sporting events that took place at Empire Stadium.
Home+Away was officially unveiled on July 15, 2024. It is a recreation of a slice of the stand, towering above the fields below with around 90 steps and space for 49 people.
