History
Construction was completed in 1914 on what was then known as McGill Graduates stadium, which was located on the slope of Mount Royal, at the corner of University and Pine (avenue Des Pins). The stadium sat dormant through World War I with the cessation of football from 1914 to 1918. On July 5, 1917, Captain Percival Molson, a McGill University alumnus and sports star who had been instrumental in getting the stadium plan approved, was killed in action in France. His will left $75,000 to the university to help pay most of the total costs for the completion of the stadium. Other individual donors whose generosity built and renovated the stadium were William C. Macdonald and John W. McConnell. Designed by Percy Erskine Nobbs, the stadium was officially renamed in honour of Molson in 1919.
The Montreal Alouettes have played most of their home games at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of McGill University, since November 1997. Until 2007, they played their last home regular season game at the Olympic Stadium. Any playoff games are played at the Olympic Stadium. Percival Molson stadium is also home of the Selwyn House Gryphons and the McGill Redmen football and rugby teams. It was the home of the CFL Montreal Alouettes from 1947 to 1967. The only Grey Cup game to have been played at Molson Stadium was in 1931. Nevertheless it was the first time the Grey Cup had been contested outside of Ontario. It also served as a venue for field hockey during the 1976 Summer Olympics. It seated 20,202 and has been sold out for Alouettes games since August 12, 1999.
The Alouettes' decision to return to the venue was problematic because the team was being sponsored by the Labatt Brewing Company and the stadium shared the name of its major competitor, Molson, though not named for it. Eventually, the team chose to change sponsors, and have since been sponsored by Molson. In 2004, The Alouettes installed a FieldTurf surface at Molson Stadium which is still in use.
Read more about this topic: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium
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“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)