New $870M Olympic Stadium roof: the NFL is still evaluating the possibility of a game in Montreal(@SCadoretteJDQ) https://t.co/qw5h9cb8Hs
– Le Journal de Montréal (@JdeMontreal) February 6, 2024
Because you know the situation very well. Despite the money invested in the Stadium, it won’t be any more attractive for soccer, football or even baseball.
Do you really think that in four or five years, the NFL will set foot in the Olympic Stadium if nothing else changes? I don’t.
But even if you don’t fix one mistake by making another, far too much money will be invested in a poorly located and generally outdated Olympic Stadium.
And the $870 million doesn’t even include the expected cost overruns.
The news is so left-field that I’ve seen people outside Quebec wondering, with a look of astonishment, if this is happening because the Expos’ comeback could finally go through the Olympic Stadium.
I don’t blame them: when news like this comes out, people look for explanations. And if they come up with a good one, from their outside perspective, I’ll ask them to explain it to me.
And right now, many people in the province are wondering why the money generously donated by Quebec wasn’t invested in more… strategic locations.
Every single person in Quebec when the government releases literally anything related to the Big O in the past 50 years:: pic.twitter.com/O4jXcUHgwO
– Paul Spence (@Rock_handsome) February 6, 2024
The problem with the Stadium, apart from the fact that it will always be in such a bad location, is that its only problems aren’t the roof. And Alexandre Pratt (La Presse) hit the nail on the head in his piece of the day.
After all, once the roof is in place, will everything be magically perfect? Of course it won’t.
The enclosure, the playing surface, the acoustics, the seats, the boxes, the corridors – all will remain unchanged. This was already an issue for the atmosphere in 1998. Imagine in 2028. – Alexandre Pratt
How many more events will be set up at the Stadium to justify the bill? That’s the question.
How to make people laugh at us 101: here’s a good example. If sports people in the rest of Canada weren’t so busy grilling the London police on the Hockey Canada issue, the Big O would surely have been the talk of the town.
In brief
– Demolishing the Olympic Stadium would be expensive. Would it have been a better option? Your guess is as good as mine.
In 2017, I wrote to Controlled Demolition Inc. to ask them their opinion on the astronomical price tag the government was quoting (then $700M) to demolish the Olympic Stadium. At the time the company held many demolition world records, including the largest by volume, Seattle’s… pic.twitter.com/k2pMzPim1T
– Elias Makos (@eliasmakos) February 6, 2024
Quebec government told us today that the price to demolish Olympic Stadium would be a whopping TWO BILLION DOLLARS.
Cost of recent stadium demolitions:
RFK Stadium, D.C.: $20M
Silverdome, Detroit: $9M
Yankee Stadium, N.Y.: $22M
RCA Dome, Indianapolis: $13M
Kingdome, Seattle:…– Elias Makos (@eliasmakos) February 5, 2024
– How’s Martin St-Louis’ aggressive patience?[JdeM]
– Justin Barron is working on his confidence.
READ: Canadiens Defenseman Justin Barron to Focus on Building Confidence in Laval https://t.co/GvIbO6azoi | @TheHockeyNews #GoHabsGo #Habs #GoRocket pic.twitter.com/NRNpkYg1CG
– Rick Stephens / Rocket Sports (@RocketSports) February 6, 2024
– Jakob Pelletier is proud to be back in the NHL.
“Feels good, it was a long four months. It’s good to play games the past few weeks, and now good to be here.”
Jakob Pelletier talks about his road to recovery from injury and thoughts on being back with the club. pic.twitter.com/OTWdnAe9gu
– Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 5, 2024
– Last night was the All-Star Game in the AHL. Logan Mailloux did well.
That’s sharp#AHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/DeEs4LTkEQ
– Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) February 6, 2024