Rooms with a view

Ballpark and retail business converge in the same place at the same time 35 years ago Wednesday as $570 million SkyDome opens in Toronto.

SkyDome features a new home for the Blue Jays on a field that comes with a built-in, mezzanine-level 348-room hotel ringing the outfield – hey, you two up there, close those curtains or, well, maybe not – as well as baseball’s first fully retractable roof and a Hard Rock Café.

A hotel room in Toronto with a view

There also is the world’s largest video display board to keep fans up to date on the score of the game, as well as no doubt the specials at the Hard Rock Café.

Sorry, ahem, no videos of the hotel guests.

Historians note the Milwaukee Brewers spoil the Blue Jays’ first game at SkyDome, beating them 5-3 before a Monday night crowd of 48,378.

Paul Molitor records the first hit with a leadoff double off Toronto left-hander Jimmy Key, while Toronto’s Fred McGriff becomes the first to homer in baseball’s newest palace with a two-run drive in the second inning off Milwaukee right-hander Don August.

Baseball’s newest stadium in 1989 now is the major leagues’ seventh oldest ballpark, trailing only the ones still in use by the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, L.A. Angels, Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals.

The Blue Jays have been moving forward since 2023 with ballpark renovations totaling more than $200 million that are expected to add at least 10 more years of life to the facility.