Another $870 million Canadian is going into repairs of the building.
What will the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics venues look like in 2076? Will the hockey arena still be in use and if it is, what will it cost to maintain the facility? In Montréal, the Olympic stadium is once again being renovated. The 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics stadium was the last major project to be completed as part of a plan that was supposed to transform the city. The plan featured a new subway system, a world’s fair and the Olympics. The Métro subway system has the second-highest ridership per capita in North America behind New York City. The Expo 67 grounds is one of the largest public parks in eastern Canada and features the largest natural sciences museums in Canada, a casino and a large amusement park.
But the stadium remains a problem. The roof has never worked properly, in fact it wasn’t installed until 1987. In 1991, Olympic Stadium was closed after a 55-ton concrete beam crashed onto a public walkway forcing the Montréal Expos baseball team to play games on the road while the stadium was repaired. Politicians in Montréal and Québec are dealing with an old problem, a problem that helped end the run of the Major League Baseball’s Expos in Montréal. The Olympic Stadium is undergoing a new round of renovations. The roof renovations which include the dismantling of the existing roof, replacing the technical ring that holds the entire stadium structure together and building a new roof. The cost may be as much as $870 million Canadian or about $642 million US. Other portions of the structure need upgrades. The renovation will not get MLB to return to Montréal. MLB might consider going back to Montréal if there is an owner with deep pockets who will help finance a new venue. The Montréal Olympic stadium seems to be a bottomless money pit.
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