Quebec to spend $870m on new Olympic Stadium roof

[TheScorpion]

Holy moly, that's a lot of money. Without a permanent tenant I'm struggling to see the ROI potential but maybe the NHL will stage a game there in the future. Flames/Canadiens Heritage Classic rematch?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1754524828571496686

[TorqueDog]

Everyone: "The Calgary arena deal is probably one of the worst in professional sports."
Quebec: "Hold my poutine..."

[GirlySports]

A new roof isn't going to move the stadium, it's in a terrible part of town. Imagine if McMahon was in Forest Lawn instead of University Heights

[marsplasticeraser]

I have to say that the stadium is absolutely a work of art. From the outside.

I still remember going to Expo games as a kid on trips to Montreal. But about 20 years ago I went again just to see the stadium and it absolutely blew me away. There is very little in North America that compares.

I don't know if that justifies the money they're going to invest, as the inside was a ####ty place for a ball game. Perhaps they can turn it around?

[Maritime Q-Scout]

The issue is the infrastructure that it's built on.

$870million to fix it, $2 billion to take it down.

Not really a hard choice.

[The Fisher Account]

Imagine spending a billion dollars on a stadium...



In the 70's!!!

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

A new roof isn't going to move the stadium, it's in a terrible part of town. Imagine if McMahon was in Forest Lawn instead of University Heights

I would need to know the outcome of that offensively-coloured FreshCo at Brentwood in this hypothetical situation in order to form a well-rounded opinion.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

I have to say that the stadium is absolutely a work of art. From the outside.

I still remember going to Expo games as a kid on trips to Montreal. But about 20 years ago I went again just to see the stadium and it absolutely blew me away. There is very little in North America that compares.

I don't know if that justifies the money they're going to invest, as the inside was a ####ty place for a ball game. Perhaps they can turn it around?

17 year old me. I can't wait to see Olympic Stadium. The Expos, Major League Baseball, the Olympics were there.
It's so awesome on the outside.

Gets off at metro station, enters directly. I thought that kinda sucked, seeing the structure adds to the allure.

Then looks around "wow... this place is a dump, Centre200 is nicer than here!"

[nfotiu]

I guess they were worried it had fallen too far down the most expensive stadium rankings.

From their wikipedia

In mid-November 2006, the stadium's costs were finally paid in full, more than 30 years after it opened.[7] The total expenditure (including repairs, renovations, construction, interest, and inflation) amounted to C$1.61 billion, making it—at the time all costs were paid off—the second most expensive stadium built (after Wembley Stadium in London).[18] Despite initial plans to complete payment in October 2006, an indoor smoking ban introduced in May 2006 curtailed the revenue gathered by the tobacco tax.[7] By 2014, the stadium's expense ranking had fallen to fifth, with the construction of costlier venues like MetLife Stadium, AT&T Stadium, and the new Yankee Stadium. Perceived by many to be a white elephant, the stadium has also been dubbed The Big Owe due to its astronomical cost.

[TorqueDog]

In Canada, we arr 'ave not, but in La Belle Province, we 'ave $870 million for a stadium roof.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Imagine if McMahon was in Forest Lawn instead of University Heights

Could we have concerts there?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

In Canada, we arr 'ave not, but in La Belle Province, we 'ave $870 million for a stadium roof.

Theres an 'Equalization Payments' joke to be made here but I'm leaving it.

[looooob]

It's a dump allright but a dump where unfortunately I have countless memories- probably close to 100 ball games including the 82 all star game, football and soccer games, high profile concerts


every time the acoustics or some other element was absolutely terrible but the nostalgia I have for that dump- MY dump- is high!


went back for one of the first of the blue jays exhibition games there maybe 10 years ago and right away my mind was transformed to a simpler, weirder time


and yes the location...sigh

[Sylvanfan]

Maybe they can let 68,000 homeless people stay there when it's really cold?

[Winsor_Pilates]

Aren't these Quebec construction projects notorious for funding organized crime/mafia?
Probably expensive so a lot of expensive contracts can be given out to people with influence.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

A new roof isn't going to move the stadium, it's in a terrible part of town. Imagine if McMahon was in Forest Lawn instead of University Heights

Is it that bad? I went to Montreal about 5 years ago and we stopped at the stadium and from what I remember the area seemed pretty decent. Definitely not a hood like Forest Lawn.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Is it that bad? I went to Montreal about 5 years ago and we stopped at the stadium and from what I remember the area seemed pretty decent. Definitely not a hood like Forest Lawn.

to me its not so much that the neighbourhood is bad, moreso that downtown/central Montreal (IMO only, especially in the summer) is one of the great places to be ,at least in North America- so slogging to go somewhere else and sit 'inside' is not a great draw

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

A new roof isn't going to move the stadium, it's in a terrible part of town. Imagine if McMahon was in Forest Lawn instead of University Heights

I don't need to use my imagination. I've walked to Commonwealth Stadium from downtown Edmonton.

[troutman]

This won’t bring back the Expos.

Build a character park downtown.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Holy moly, that's a lot of money. Without a permanent tenant I'm struggling to see the ROI potential but maybe the NHL will stage a game there in the future. Flames/Canadiens Heritage Classic rematch?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1754524828571496686