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From Baseball's Canadian-American League by David Pietrusza:
Lack of a fence was a pretty common condition in those days. This malady also plagued
Ottawa, as it started 1936 without a proper barrier. Lansdowne Park, on the Rideau Canal,
was a 10,000-seat football stadium built in 1909 for $100,000. “A fence is being erected,
� reported the Oswego Palladium-Times on June 3, 1936. “It will be placed about
300 feet from home plate and give the batters something to shoot at.�
As noted earlier, the park was employed by the Canadian Army in World War II as a troop
training site. On other occasions the team was forced to vacate the premises to make way for
the Central Canada Exposition.
“It was a rough park. The field wasn’t kept up,� says Spencer Fitzgerald. “The
stands were really long and the troops lived under them.�
“No one ever hit a ball out of that park. It was over 400 feet to left. I think they had a
standing offer of $1,000, from Jack Dempsey or someone who had been up there, if anyone
hit one out. Nobody ever collected,� says “Dutch� Howlan, who pitched for the
Border League’s Ottawa Nationals.
Lansdowne Stadium was also used for the International League’s Ottawa Athletics in the
mid-1950s, and was expanded to 17,301 seats in 1961. In 1966 the old grandstand was
demolished to make room for the city’s Centennial project, the Civic Centre, a
multipurpose facility consisting of a 33,000 square foot exhibition hail, a 9,355 seat arena,
offices, meeting rooms, and dressing rooms. All of this was incorporated into a new 14,842
seat stadium grandstand.
Lansdowne stadium now features Astroturf and hosts the Canadian Football League's
Ottawa Rough Riders.
Lack of a fence was a pretty common condition in those days. This malady also plagued
Ottawa, as it started 1936 without a proper barrier. Lansdowne Park, on the Rideau Canal,
was a 10,000-seat football stadium built in 1909 for $100,000. “A fence is being erected,
� reported the Oswego Palladium-Times on June 3, 1936. “It will be placed about
300 feet from home plate and give the batters something to shoot at.�
As noted earlier, the park was employed by the Canadian Army in World War II as a troop
training site. On other occasions the team was forced to vacate the premises to make way for
the Central Canada Exposition.
“It was a rough park. The field wasn’t kept up,� says Spencer Fitzgerald. “The
stands were really long and the troops lived under them.�
“No one ever hit a ball out of that park. It was over 400 feet to left. I think they had a
standing offer of $1,000, from Jack Dempsey or someone who had been up there, if anyone
hit one out. Nobody ever collected,� says “Dutch� Howlan, who pitched for the
Border League’s Ottawa Nationals.
Lansdowne Stadium was also used for the International League’s Ottawa Athletics in the
mid-1950s, and was expanded to 17,301 seats in 1961. In 1966 the old grandstand was
demolished to make room for the city’s Centennial project, the Civic Centre, a
multipurpose facility consisting of a 33,000 square foot exhibition hail, a 9,355 seat arena,
offices, meeting rooms, and dressing rooms. All of this was incorporated into a new 14,842
seat stadium grandstand.
Lansdowne stadium now features Astroturf and hosts the Canadian Football League's
Ottawa Rough Riders.
| Lansdowne Park Ottawa, Ontario |