Shaw Park, formerly Canwest Park, is a baseball stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is home of the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association.
The ballpark is located in downtown Winnipeg, immediately adjacent to The Forks National Historic Site. It opened on May 24, 1999, replacing Winnipeg Stadium as the city's primary baseball facility. It has since been expanded and currently has a seating capacity of 7,481 for baseball.
Prior to its completion, Mind Computers, a Winnipeg-based company, acquired the naming rights of the facility. The company held a contest to name the new ballpark, with "Mind Field" being selected. However, the name was rejected because of the negative connotations associated with a name sounding similar to minefield. As a result, Mind Computers withdrew from the naming rights agreement. Winnipeg-based CanWest Global, which was one of Canada's largest media companies at the time, stepped in and purchased the naming rights and the new stadium opened as CanWest Global Park. The stadium's name was later changed to Canwest Park in 2008, following the media company's corporate rebranding.
After Canwest went bankrupt in 2010, the Goldeyes went into negotiations with Shaw Communications, which acquired the naming rights when it purchased Canwest's broadcasting assets. The stadium was renamed Shaw Park prior to the 2011 season. Coincidentally, the local Shaw TV channel was already the team's local television broadcaster.
The stadium served as the baseball venue during the 1999 Pan American Games and is occasionally used as an outdoor concert venue.
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“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)