Montreal Olympic Stadium Roof History

After announcing that montreal s olympic stadium will be getting a new 200 300 million dollar roof in time for the world renowned soccer tournament montrealers were having trouble justifying why anyone would pour even more money into a 42 year old stadium that never really worked and took the city 40 years to pay off.

Montreal olympic stadium roof history.

Shaun best reuters the stadium aside montreal did get some bang for its. The new stadium was named olympic stadium and became the first to have a retractable roof. Stade olympique is a multi purpose stadium in montreal canada located at olympic park in the hochelaga maisonneuve district of the city. The stadium that s dominated the skyline of montreal s east end for more than 40 years had no roof when the 1976 olympics were held the tower meant to hold it up wasn t finished.

Originally constructed for the. With the former home of the montreal expos expected to host 2026 world cup matches officials are pushing to replace olympic stadium s roof ahead of the event. Because of construction delays olympic stadium opened unfinished for the olympics. The original roof a rube goldberg contraption that was supposed to retract using a system of steel cables and pulleys hanging off a massive tower never worked.

The stadium opened just barely in time for the olympics in july 1976 although its tower was finished and the roof installed only years later. The retractable fabric roof that was to be suspended from the tower by cables also was not in place. The 200 000 sq ft 65 tonne kevlar roof at the olympic stadium in montreal was expected to last 25 years. Built in the mid 1970s as the main venue for the 1976 summer olympics it is nicknamed the big o a reference to both its name and to the doughnut shape of the permanent component of the stadium s roof.

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