Olympic Stadium Montreal

Construction of the Olympic Stadium lasted for more than 12 years and cost astronomical amount over the origin prediction.

The tower of the Olympic Stadium has 20 storeys, but with its 175 meters it can be said that it is the same size as a 40-storey building. The 6 th highest building in Montreal.

The Olympic Stadium can receive 53858 people.

The Olympic stadium’s tower is currently under renovation to be used for office space. The construction, however, is on hold due to an increase in costs!

Stadium construction’s history.

A year before the launch of the Olympic Games, the stadium was not half completed. While the organizing committee of the games should explain the cost explosion from 486 million to 612 million, the IOC wondered whether the stadium would be ready in time.

While Mayor Jean Drapeau had promised games self-funded, costs are going uncontrolled and work seemed to slow down.

The original stadium and velodome alone would cost half ($ 400 million) of these new costs. The velodrome estimated to only 57 million (it will cost a total of 75 million and the original forecast was 14 million).

At this time (1975) stadium’s roof is estimated to cost 13 millions $.

One year before the Games of the 21 th Olympiad, construction of the stadium acumulate already a delay of 6 weeks on the regular schedule. Among other things, From the 34 giant arches which were to be ready, only one was in place.

While all the other equipments are almost finished, stadium was source of anxiety: A series of strikes paralysed the construction. Every construction corporations has deserted construction sites. Even if it was one year before the games more than 1300 workers-working nights and days, the stadium will not be ready on time. The tower and the stadium’s roof where not ready for the Montreal Olympic Games of 1976.

The roof of the stadium.

When Olympics games were finished, the Montreal Olympic Stadium was left to a question: Yes or no, do we finish the construction of the stadium as described in Roger Taillibert? plans.

A committee led by Jean-Claude Marsan was created to study this issue. His conclusion: a fixed roof and an incomplete tower. Cost: no more than 15 million.

Conversely Minister Charron was pushing the other solution, it advocates the Roger Taillibert solution to finish the tower and make a retractable roof.

Unfortunately he was ignoring a report which was going from a person to another at the RIO, in 1977; French engineers noticed serious deficiencies at the base of tower.

Work resumed in 1978 but quickly problems arise again. We realize that the pillars in the future tower did not contains as much concrete as they should, therefore, continuing the rest of the structure will be perilous. There were deficiencies of up to 30% on lack of concrete on parts of the foot. This is because in the pre-Olympics rush, this work has been badly accomplished. At this point, if the tower is completed according to plans, the under base of the tower may split under the ground under to much pressure and jeopardize the entire structure of the stadium.

The solution was quickly found: finish the tower in concrete reinforced by steel rods, rather than full concrete, this was resolving the other problem of the hanged roof weight.

In 1981 the total cost of building the stadium was around 925 millions

the roof was finally completed 11 years after the games and cost alone over 150 million. (1996), but in fact all Montrealers know that the roof is and will be a hot topic for a long time and therefore, cost will never be definitive.

Orther tourism place near

• Montreal Biodome
• The Montreal Botanical Garden