Elks voice desire for upgraded Commonwealth Stadium as renderings of potential renovations come to light

A rendering by the City of Edmonton of potential upgrades to Commonwealth Stadium released Sept. 4, 2024. (Credit: City of Edmonton)

The same day renderings of a renovated Commonwealth Stadium came to light, the new owner of the Edmonton Elks says he has started talking to the city about what needs to be done to upgrade the team's longtime home.

Larry Thompson, who last month took over as sole owner of the Canadian Football League franchise from a local group, said Wednesday during a virtual meeting with season-ticket holders the team has "already had discussions with city officials," including Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, on the future of the 56,000-capacity facility.

The stadium was built for the namesake Commonwealth Games in 1978 that's been home to the CFL squad ever since and has been upgraded several times in the 46 years since.

"We're beginning talks on what we can do at Commonwealth," Thompson said Wednesday night.

"We need to do something with it. We need to get some enhancements to Commonwealth Stadium, because we've already identified some hot spots that need to be revamped."

Talk of upgrading Commonwealth comes three weeks after Thompson was introduced as the new owner. At the media conference to introduce him, Thompson — a longtime season-ticket holder and former owner of Thompson Brothers Construction — suggested a new stadium might be needed.

There was no talk of that on Wednesday during the curated 'town hall,' the focus instead on upgrading the stadium that recently hosted three sold-out concerts.

Also on Wednesday, renderings showing upgrades to Commonwealth on the City of Edmonton's website — including updated concessions, washrooms and clear panels replacing metal ones to increase the amount of natural light on the concourse — were unearthed on social media, with an entry under stadium information stating the city "recognizes the need for upgrades to align with modern event standards and enhance the overall spectator experience."

The city said Thursday the renderings were added to the stadium's webpage in January.

"These upgrades will improve concourse flow and address challenges such as concession access and overall accessibility," the entry says.

"The project is currently approved to perform required repairs and ongoing maintenance. The full scope of work required to modernize the stadium requires a substantial capital investment. If and when that funding is approved, design and construction of the stadium modernization can begin."

Rick LeLacheur, the Elks' interim president and chief executive officer, said during the virtual meeting the team is focused on enhancing the fan experience with any stadium upgrades.

"It actually helps us when they have big crowds and the concerts they've had the last two weeks and three full houses," LeLacheur said.

"The requirement under our licence agreement is they have to put a percentage of their concessions on that to upgrade the concessions. We got some done this year, and hopefully out of these three concerts, we'll be able to do some further upgrades on the concessions next year."

Team bids for 2026 Grey Cup

Thompson and LeLacheur also told season-ticket holders the Elks have placed a bid to host the 2026 Grey Cup.

"We're pretty confident in our bid," Thompson said. "We will find out by the Grey Cup this fall if we're successful."

Edmonton last hosted the CFL's championship game in 2018. This year's edition is slated to be held in Vancouver, with 2025's game pegged for Winnipeg.

LeLacheur said the Elks weren't expecting the game to be available but that the CFL opened up the process for bidding "a couple of months ago" because stadiums in Toronto and Vancouver are hosting FIFA World Cup games and Montreal's Olympic Stadium is undergoing renovations.

He said Edmonton's 100-page bid, which was filed with the league last week and involved the city and the province, is in competition with one from Calgary.

"I think we've answered all the questions, and we'll be presenting the bid to the CFL committee after the next couple of weeks," LeLacheur said.

Commonwealth Stadium has hosted the Grey Cup five times, in 1984, 1997, 2002, 2010 and 2018.