Sunlight Park
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Sunlight Park | |
---|---|
Location | Queen Street East and west Broadview Avenue |
Opened | 1887 |
Closed | 1896 |
Owner | |
Surface | Grass |
Construction cost | $7,000.00 |
Former names | Toronto Baseball Grounds |
Tenants | Toronto (or Torontos?) |
Capacity | approx 2,200 |
Sunlight Park was the first baseball park in Toronto. The all wood stadium was built in 1886 for the International League baseball team the Torontos (soon renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs).
It was initially known as the Toronto Baseball Grounds for the cost of $7,000. It stood south of Queen Street East, west of Broadview Avenue, near the Don River, and had seating for 2,200 spectators, including a 550-seat reserved section. It came to be known as Sunlight Park after the Lever Brothers Sunlight Soap Works was built behind the outfield fence. The stadium hosted the city’s first professional baseball championship in 1887. The team and league folded in 1890 and the stadium lasted until 1896 when the team's new owners abandoned the park for their new Hanlan's Point Stadium.
Today the site is a city park and street Sunlight Park Road bears witness to the past.
[edit] See also
- Jarvis Street Lacrosse Grounds
- Rogers Centre
- Exhibition Stadium
- Maple Leaf Stadium
- Christie Pits