Commonwealth Stadium was officially opened 25 years ago this month, but the story behind the stadium and the land on which it sits goes back much further. Early in the 20th century, the site - originally at the northern boundary of River Lot 20 - was home to the Decarie Incinerator, Rat Creek Dump and the Williamson (Burns) Slaughter House. A headline in the Edmonton Bulletin April 2nd, 1910 declared: "Residents of Norwood will demand removal of vile smelling monster." Several dozen turned out to a public meeting to demand the incinerator be stopped from attempting to burn manure.

The Edmonton Bulletin agreed with the residents and, in an editorial published April 4th said, "The incinerator continues to enrich the evening air with the aroma of a Turkish cigarette . . . Whatever the good or bad features of the Decarie incinerator, it does not consume manure any better than a bonfire wold do so, it merely smokes it and gives the neighbours the benefit of the operation."

The campaign apparently had little effect and, from all accounts, the incinerator continued incinerating. Back in those days, Rat Creek used to run eastward from 97th Street just south of Norwood Boulevard and into what is now Kinnaird Ravine.

Like the incinerator, the dump and the slaughter house, the creek has been covered over by time and development. But, if you dig around, you never know what fragments of the past you might uncover.

That's exactly what happened when excavation on Commonwealth Stadium began in December 1974, with eight large earth movers, a truck loader, bulldozer, compactors and about 40 trucks on the site. In a matter of months, the men and equipment removed more than 500,000 cubic yards of earth, opening a hole 35 feet deep and covering eight and a half acres.

One day, an earthmover exposed some remnants from the old Rat Creek Dump. Stan Addley, long time keeper of the turf at Clarke Field and later Commonwealth Stadium, remembers all manner of archeologists descending upon the place when word got out.

"It was a bottle of something as I recall, and you should have seen the activity! That," he laughs," was one hell of a week."

It was the sort of week that Fighting Joe Clarke, the one-time Mayor, lawyer and sportsman for which the government-owned park is named, might have found most amusing. That and the skirmish over the very construction of the stadium.

Records at the City of Edmonton Archives tell the story of anger and resentment from neighbouring residents, who opposed the project from the beginning. In a three-page letter to city council in early 1975, a citizen group called Action Edmonton asked that the decision be re- examined "in an objective and open-minded manner now that social and longer-term financial consequences are known."

In April 1975, City commissioners warned council that switching the site would mean an eight-month delay and would cost at least another $2.5 million. Later that year, several proposals to enclose the stadium with a full roof were considered, including one from the Edmonton Eskimos football club.

The club offered to pay $1.6 million towards enclosing a new stadium, provided city council agreed to build a $40.7 million "Cadillac" version of the facility. But council members were concerned about the enormous cost overruns that were already evident in Montreal, with its Olympic Stadium being constructed for the 1976 Summer Games and they approved a $21 million project - with no roof.

The approved design carried a provision for the addition of a $1.6 million roof at a later date. But we all know what became of that.

Designed by Ragan, Bell, McManus Consultants Ltd., the 54,000 square-metre-facility was based on the Iowa State University Stadium. General contractor was Ellis-Don Ltd., a London, Ontario firm. Commonwealth Stadium's original capacity was 42,500, including 39,384 theatre-type seats with back rests and 3,200 bench seats in the north end zone.

Official opening ceremonies were held July 15th, 1978 and attracted more than 15,000 people. After speeches by federal Commerce Minister Jack Horner and Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed and Commonwealth Games President Maury van Vliet, Edmonton Mayor Cec Purves declared the stadium open. It came in on budget and on schedule.

Much was made of its $50,000 "Royal Retirement Room" for Queen Elizabeth. The royal bathroom was constructed so that Her Majesty would not have to hurry up 72 steps to the concourse level washrooms. The royal biffy, located in a 32 foot by 17 foot room dug out of the excavation wall under the stadium, was never used for a royal flush.

The Queen officially declared open the 1978 Commonwealth Games on August 3rd, as 1,900 athletes from 46 Commonwealth countries paraded past. With Edmonton centre stage for a world television audience of 500 million, Edmonton Journal reporter Dan Powers reported, "The moment seemed suspended in time. There was an atmosphere of quiet pride, friendship and expectation. It was a mental high that would never be repeated."

Even after its completion, talk of enclosing the stadium didn't go away. In May 1979, Ald. Olivia Butti, who had previously pushed for a covered facility and had tabled proposals ranging in cost from $15 million to $32 million, trotted out the idea of a stainless-steel air supported roof.

A report by the inventor of the roof insisted the project could be completed for under $10 million. The hot air was soon let out of that one, too.

In 1981, in preparation for the 1983 World University Games, city council approved an $11 million upgrade to the stadium. The upgrade added 18,000 seats on the upper tiers and the north end zone, bringing the total capacity to 61,000 and making Commonwealth the largest football stadium in the country at the time.

Two summers ago, the eyes of the world were on Commonwealth Stadium once again as it became the centrepiece for competition at the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. In the months leading up to the Worlds, the stadium got a $24 million facelift including a re-designed exterior, an enlarged and improved concourse, a new Mondo track and state-of-the-art video replay scoreboard and better lighting.

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