Thousands of holes in Olympic Stadium roof
Riley Sparks, The Gazette July 25, 2013
Olympic Stadium roof seen from the observation deck at the top of the stadium’s tower in Montreal, Monday April 2, 2012.
Photograph by: John Mahoney, Gazette file photo
MONTREAL — Fresh concerns about the safety of the Olympic Stadium’s roof have forced the Alouettes to put their bid to host the 2017 Grey Cup on hold.
“If this was to prevent us from being able to host a Grey Cup in Montreal in the short- to mid-term, it would be tremendously disappointing,” said Mark Weightman, the team's chief operating officer.
Tests on the condition of the roof last year showed that the thin membrane is falling apart more quickly than expected.
Documents obtained by La Presse reportedly show that daily inspections of the stadium roof found 2,729 tears between November 2012 and May 2013.
Most of the tears are only a few millimetres or centimetres long, but maintenance of the roof costs about $1 million every year, Olympic Park spokesperson Justine Lord-Dufour said.
“Deterioration of the roof’s mechanical properties is considerable, and aging is more significant than anticipated,” Olympic Park administrators noted in their 2012 annual report.
The roof material — a composite of fibreglass and PTFE, a polymer more commonly known as Teflon — can support as much as 58 kilograms per square centimetre.
But since this roof was installed, it has suffered a 59-per-cent decline in its load-bearing capacity.
Maintenance and more frequent testing of the roof material have not slowed its deterioration.
“Experts confirm that the risks of breakage are only increasing,” the 2012 report said.
Because of the stadium’s particular shape, the roof does not drain properly in all weather conditions, which can strain the material.
In 1999, just one year after a new $33-million roof was installed, a large section gave way under heavy snow.
Workers on the field were almost buried under an avalanche pouring down from the roof 52 metres above.
After the collapse, heating elements were installed under the roof to melt snow before enough could accumulate to break the roof.
Maintaining that system is expensive, the Olympic Park said in its 2012 report, and it does not ensure the stadium can be used during the winter.
“Twenty-four hours prior to an event, if weather reports indicate that there will be snow, or any type of accumulation on the roof, the stadium is closed down and the event is cancelled,” Dufour said.
A study by the Olympic Park administration after the 1999 collapse concluded that fixing the roof’s major structural problems would be too complicated.
Options for a new roof are still under discussion, but the high price and complexity of the project have slowed progress.
“We obviously hope that there will be a new roof built in the short term to make that stadium operational and usable for twelve months of the year,” Weightman said.
“Until some sort of resolution has been come to concerning that very important dossier, we’re in a holding pattern.”
The nine most popular CFL games ever were all in Montreal, and all attracted over 60,000 people.
To bid for the Grey Cup, the Alouettes have to guarantee that the Olympic Stadium — the only football field in the city that can fit so many people—will be available in Nov. 2017.
So far, that hasn’t been possible, Weightman said.
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