Forgotten Futures Explore Stadiums Built for Dreams That Never Arrived

9. The Skydome (Canada) – The Future That Aged Too Quickly

When Toronto’s Skydome (now known as the Rogers Centre) opened in 1989, it was hailed as the stadium of the future. It was the first-ever stadium with a fully retractable roof, allowing baseball and football games to be played in any weather. The stadium’s hotel with field-facing rooms, high-tech scoreboard, and versatile design made it an engineering marvel. But just a decade later, the once-revolutionary stadium was already becoming outdated. Newer stadiums in the U.S. and Europe were designed with better sightlines, fan-friendly experiences, and advanced retractable roofs. Today, the Rogers Centre still functions, but it feels like a museum piece from the late 20th century, struggling to keep up with modern sports arenas that offer cutting-edge technology and luxury experiences. What was meant to be a vision of the future has instead become a relic of a past that came too soon. Opened: 1989