CanadaLinks.co.uk : Montreal - Montreal Olympic Stadium

Montreal - Montreal Olympic Stadium

With an unusual design and a chequered history, the Montreal Olympic Stadium is a tourist attraction in its own right. Designed and built as the main venue for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, the stadium wasn’t actually fully completed until 1987 – 11 years late – when the roof was finally put on. Unfortunately there was a design flaw causing the Kevlar material used in the roof construction to rip. Other problems to hit the stadium include a snapped support beam that brought down over 50 tonnes of concrete and a collapsing roof section that has put the contractors, manufacturers and engineers in hot water with the authorities.

The stadium had an original budget of $134 million CAD when it was designed in the early 1970s. With all the extra maintenance and repair costs and the fact that the stadium no longer has a regular tenant, total expenditure on the stadium has been calculated at over $1.6 billion CAD – twelve times the original estimation.

Despite being a perfect example of how not to build a stadium, the design is nevertheless a striking one. The stadium features a slanted structure standing 175 metres tall – making the Montreal Olympic Stadium both the tallest slanted structure and stadium in the world. It’s amazing that, despite this status, the roof of the stadium is so low at 52 metres high, that when baseball is played here there is often the possibility that the ball will hit the roof. Lines have had to be painted on the underside of the roof to negate the possibility of a foul ball.

Tourists can visit the observation deck within the famous slanting tower where on a clear day you can see for up to 80 kilometres. Facilities at the stadium also include restaurants, gift shops and guided tours.

http://www.rio.gouv.qc.ca/index2.jsp