Quote:
Originally Posted by elly63
It did have a future use, home of the Expos and Alouettes. I don't think we can blame planners for not being able to predict the future.
It's funny how no one talks about the two stage renovation to BC Place. They didn't exactly complete that at no cost (originally 514mil/685 mil in 2023). Yes, it will be huge money to renovate Olympic Stadium but like it or not it is Montreal's Eiffel Tower, people identify with it on the skyline.
Also when people talk about the age of the structure they often forget about the Olympiastadion (1936) or the old stadiums in California. These structures are still valid (and yes I know about the past Montreal issues)
Had they not repurposed the Velodrome or Olympic Village the area would have done well as an NTC (National Training Centre)
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Olympic Stadium was built without consulting the Expos and Alouettes, leading to a sub-par venue for them even by standards of the era. It's one thing to build a Turner Field-like stadium that had the Braves in mind post-1996 Olympics, but the long-term considerations of the future tenants was not a major consideration for the Big O.
The question of how the future played out from 1976 (it did get decently used from the 1970s through the 1990s) versus how it will play out tomorrow from a 2023 vantage point bears examining. The 2023 vantage doesn't look pretty and the downsides of a large renovation seem to outweigh the upsides. It's a hard sell politically.
BC Place's renovation was expensive, and of questionable value IMO. BC Place also didn't have the 'legacy' of the Big O for better or worse.