New roof coming for Montreal Olympic Stadium in $870 million renovation
Montreal’s Olympic Stadium has been the subject of controversy for as long it’s existed. Now, the “Big O,” built to host the 1976 Olympic Games, is once again in the limelight as new renovations have been announced.
On Monday, members of Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s government announced the replacement of the Olympic Stadium’s roof and technical ring. Quebec’s minister of tourism, Caroline Proulx, also confirmed that the repairs will come with a price tag of $870 million.
The Hochelaga structure’s current roof, made of fibreglass and Teflon canvas, has accumulated many tears over its years of service and needs immediate replacement, as per the Quebec government. They have chosen a new, rigid, and fixed roof to replace the current one.
“Replacing the roof and implementing the Olympic Park business plan will generate significant economic benefits of nearly $1.5 billion over 10 years and, more precisely, on an annual basis,” the Legault government said Monday.
While hosting the odd event here and there, the 56,000-seat arena has not had a main tenant since the Expos left via MLB relocation in 2004. And its growing list of issues has prevented some big acts from stopping in Montreal at all.
For example, back in December, Proulx told reporters that pop superstar Taylor Swift’s massive world tour wouldn’t stop in Montreal because of the Olympic Stadium’s deteriorating condition.
“Taylor Swift — we missed out on that in Quebec,” she said. According to Proulx, the main reason is 20,000 tears in the roof of the Olympic Stadium that have yet to be repaired.
Beginning this summer, the construction project is set to span approximately four years. Throughout that period, the Olympic Stadium will be temporarily closed, while the surrounding park installations will continue to operate as usual.
Once completed, the new roof is expected to last 50 years.
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