History of McGill Athletics' Percival Molson Memorial Stadium

Courtesy of McGill Athletics
Written by Earl Zukerman
January 8, 2004

The Montreal Alouettes have play most of their home games at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium since November, 1997. The facility, which in 2005 will be in its 91st year of operation, is named in memory of Captain Percival Molson, a McGill football, hockey and track star who died in World War I and bequeathed $75,000 towards the construction of a stadium.

McGill, which has had a long football tradition dating back to 1872, played Harvard in 1874 in what was the first intercollegiate game of "North American style" football. It took another five decades for the team to have its own stadium on campus.

Overlooking the Montreal skyline from atop Mount Royal, Molson Stadium remains one of the most scenic places in Canada to watch a spectator event.

Molson Stadium serves the university as a varsity game and practice field, an intramural pitch and multi-purpose area. Over the past few decades, Molson Stadium has been host to the Drum Corps International competitions, the RHR Blackwatch ceremony presided over by the Queen Mother, a concert featuring the rock group "The Police" and numerous community events.

Construction on the stadium began in July, 1914 on an area known as Macdonald Park, named after William Macdonald, a benefactor who almost single-handedly financed parts of the University. Macdonald Park was to be known as "a playground for McGill students".

Originally known as McGill Graduates' Stadium, it was officially opened on Oct. 22, 1915 with the firing of a starter's pistol by Sir William Peterson, the McGill principal, for a track meet in front of some 4,000 spectators. It had been hoped that the first event would have been a football game but with the outbreak of World War I, the football season was cancelled for what proved to be four years and the stadium sat empty during the war, until it was re-dedicated as Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19, 1919. The first football game played there was a 25-2 victory for McGill over Queen's on Nov. 8, 1919, which marked McGill's first home game in five years, since a 31-7 win over Queen's on Nov. 14, 1914.

Molson Stadium was originally constructed with a 7,676 seat concrete grandstand as large crowds necessitated a bigger facility. The well-drained playing field was encircled by a quarter-mile running track, 18 feet in width.

The legacy of Molson Stadium is that it represents an inheritance from a generation, which served a bloody war with the very highest of ideals. A large part of the anticipated $100,000 construction costs came from Percival Molson, who bequeathed $75,000 in his will towards the construction of a football stadium.

Molson was born in Cacouna, Que., on Aug. 14, 1880 and developed into one of Canada's most outstanding athletes. At the age of 16, he played on the 1896 Stanley Cup championship Montreal Victorias. He graduated in 1901 with a B.A. from McGill but returned to further his education. He captained the hockey team in 1902-03, starred in track, racquet sports and football and won the Individual Trophy as the school's best "all-round athlete" for three consecutive years, a feat unmatched by any male in McGill sports history. He earned every athletic honour the University offered and set a world record in the long jump at the American Athletics Meet in 1900.

Molson was renown for his sportsmanship and earned the unique distinction of never having been penalized in any sport for unfair tactics.

In one particular hockey game versus Queen's, Molson was penalized for what was perceived by the referee as an illegal body check on George Richardson, captain of the Golden Gaels. However, Richardson protested that he had been checked fairly and the referee agreed to cancel the penalty. Later in the game, Molson was given credit for a goal but he admitted to the referee that the puck had gone in off his arm and the goal was disallowed!

After graduation, Molson became the youngest member to serve on the McGill Board of Governors, chairing its Finance and Stadium committees. He was severely wounded overseas in the Battle of Sanctuary Wood on June 2, 1916 and received the Military Cross for gallantry and distinguished conduct in action. He insisted on returning to action and was killed by a direct hit from a trench mortar on the outskirts of Avion, France on July 5, 1917. He was inducted posthumously to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

An immediate success, Molson Stadium became the home of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association football team, the predecessor of the Montreal Alouettes. By the 1930s, the stadium's seating capacity had become inadequate and a gradual expansion began. The seating arrangements were entirely rebuilt, the first outdoor lighting system in Canada was installed, as well as a public address system. Major. D. Stuart Forbes, the director of athletics at the time, even brought in a flock of sheep once in an attempt to improve the grass!

A south grandstand was constructed and the north side was heightened. These projects brought the capacity to approximately 19,500 by the early 1960s.

The stadium has hosted the Grey Cup game on one occasion — a 22-0 victory by the Montreal Winged Wheelers over the Regina Roughriders in 1931 — in front of 5,112 fans. The 1957 CFL All-Star game was also played at Molson Stadium.

McGill was enjoying large crowds and a record attendance of 19,386 was recorded for a game in 1950.

The Alouettes, formed in 1946, were also enjoying capacity crowds at the smaller Delormier Stadium from 1946 to 1953.

As a result, the moved into Molson Stadium in 1954 and stayed until 1967.

The all-time attendance record at Molson Stadium was 26,191 for a 27-21 victory by Montreal over Hamilton on Sept. 12, 1959.

In 1951 Molson stadium was also filled to capacity for the visit of Her Royal Majesty Princess Elizabeth.

With the advent of television and improved Montreal highways during the 1960s, the city became focused on the world's fair, known as "Expo 67".

As intercollegiate crowds at McGill began to drop significantly, Molson Stadium began a slow decay.

The Alouettes moved to the larger and newly-constructed Autostade -- which had 33,172 seats -- in 1968. The played there through 1971, before moving back to Molson Stadium for the 1972 campaign, then moved back to the Autostade, where they played from 1973 to 1976.

In 1975, Molson Stadium received a major facelift with a government-sponsored upgrade to the facilities, including the installation of artificial turf in order that it be used as a venue for field hockey during the 1976 Summer Olympics. It marked the first time that artificial turf was used for in the Olympic Games. Capacity was increased to over 20,000 with the addition of temporary seats.

After 10 winters, the AstroTurf® was in need of a new surface and six months after future Alouettes star Michael Soles led the McGill Redmen to the Vanier Cup in 1987, a new AstroTurf® -8 rug was installed at a cost of approximately $1 million. Much of the funding was provided by the Molson Foundation.

In 1997, the Alouettes were forced to play a playoff game at Molson Stadium due to a concert by the Irish rock band U2 at Olympic Stadium. The game, versus the B.C. Lions on Nov. 2, was the first Alouettes game at McGill since 1972 and the Als drew an announced crowd of 16,257 after spending about $55,000 to renovate and expand the seating capacity to 18,027 with the addition of temporary end-zone seats.

The Als had previously played their home games at Molson Stadium from 1952 until 1967. They moved into the Autostade in 1968 and played there until Olympic Stadium became available in 1976, with the exception of the 1972 season. Over the winter of 1998, the CFL's board of governors, in a move initiated by the clubs in western Canada, decided to provide the Als with a grant of at least $250,000, and perhaps as much as $300,000, to assist with the repairs.

In the spring of 1998, additional renovations valued at $309,000 were made by the Alouettes bumping the seating capacity to 17,317. In the spring of 1999, the Alouettes installed temporary bleachers, increasing the seating capacity to 19,461. A further increase in the 2001 season improved the capacity to 19,601.

On Oct. 2, 2001, Pierre Bourque, mayor of Montreal, announced that an agreement had been signed with Larry Smith (president of the Alouettes), and Luc Vinet, provost and vice-principal academic at McGill, to expand and renovate Molson Stadium. Bourque pledged $4 million toward the $12.5-million expansion project, with agreements in place for the balance to come from the federal and provincial governments under the federal infrastructure program.

The Alouettes also committed some $500,000 and signed a 10-year stadium lease with the University, which uses the stadium approximately 200 days per year. When renovations were completed in time for the 2004 season, Alouettes owner Robert Wetenhall stated that his team had already spent $1.2-million on stadium improvements.

The 2004 enhancements included the replacement of the 13-year-old AstroTurf® surface with a new FieldTurf surface and expansion of the bleacher-type seating capacity to 20,202. The areas under both the north and south grandstands were completely renovated, including the dressing rooms, showers, officials' rooms, concession stands and washrooms. A media level and some 15 luxury boxes were added and the outdoor lighting was significantly enhanced, in addition to the stadium access roads.

The three levels of government contributed $4 million each under the federal infrastructure program to the $13.3-million cost of phase one.

In return, the public received access to McGill's athletic facilities, including the stadium. In the near future, a new stair-and-pathway leading from the stadium to the summit of Mount Royal will be built.

On June 20, 2005, the Alouettes announced plans for a $27 million improvement, most of it expected from three levels of government, to complete a second phase of expansion to the 90-year-old stadium. The work would include construction of a second tier of seats on the south grandstand, new seating in the east end zone and 20 corporate boxes.

Larry Smith said $4 million in private money was also being sought and donors would have their names inscribed on a wall. They can also get a tax deduction for contributing to a university facility.

The project includes an attractive new entrance on the east side, which faces onto another beautification project, the $25-million dismantling of an unsightly traffic interchange.

One of the popular retro features of the stadium is its old-fashioned scoreboard, which shows the time, the score and little else, but Smith said that would be replaced by a giant $2-million video screen.

The team hopes to begin construction in 2006 and have it completed by June, 2007.