Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[WhipperSnapper]

They say 10 to 15 years for the Rogers renos. It means as much as a prebuilt condo's closing date.

[northernlights99]

More issues around Olympic Stadium, they said they'd have an announcement about the Stadium's future in January and its month's end now, if they wait beyond this Friday then I think they will just demolish the Stadium, they have had Years to study this issue, first 2017 then 2019, each time the can was kicked further down the street, this additional issue with the esplanade will add considerable cost, not sure why the writer thinks they can just patch up 20,000 holes ?

In addition to repairing the 20-odd thousand holes in the Olympic Stadium roof and the 450-metre concrete ring along the roofline of the Big O, the Montreal Olympic Park Esplanade is also in dire need of repair.

Olympic Park spokesperson Cedric Essiminy said an engineering report found that corrective work is needed on part of the Olympic Park esplanade.

"Although the area in question shows significant damage, this is not due to a lack of strength, but rather to the incorrect positioning of expansion joints dating back to the construction of the parking lots," Essiminy said. "The affected area has been fenced off to prevent overloading."

Fencing around the around 1,500 square-foot pedestrian area, often the site of festivals and other events, at the western end of the esplanade, was installed in 2021.

Though work is needed, Essiminy said there has been no major impact on events on the esplanade and no parking spaces located underneath the area were condemned.

"There was no risk to the safety of users, and we could continue to use these spaces in complete safety," he said. "The only restriction emanating from the GBI report suggests limiting operating overloads on the esplanade in the sector."

Groupe Diamantex was awarded the contract to repair the section and will begin work that is scheduled to be completed in the summer. The work will require 232 parking spaces to be requisitioned.

The Olympic Park says it invests an average of $2.6 million per year to maintain its parking lots.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/signific...port-1.6747039

[MalcolmTucker]

I wonder how much parking they have to contractually maintain for Saputo and the office tower?

Seems they are setting things up for a full demolition of the stadium, garage and esplanade. A subsidy of near $50 million a year can accomplish a lot.

[northernlights99]

except it will cost an 'estimated' Half a Billion anti-heros to demolish the Stadium (roof and bowl) section by section, and then you have NO Large stadium left (which itself is a problem), so Cabinet is facing a damned if you do, damned if you don't, either way the decision they make won't be popular with many people.

[thewave46]

So the government does nothing for another decade, unless the thing is acutely going to fall over.

It's worked for the past 15 years.

I don't see the rush here.

At worst, the stadium closes.

[J.OT13]

While the Ottawa Senators ownership and National Capital Commission continue to work on negotiating a lease for the empty lands at LeBreton Flats, just west of Downtown between two rapid transit stations (three directions), the Mayor won't stop trying to sabotage the deal by pushing for a Downtown Downtown site, proposing a bunch of Federal properties, ironically, that aren't even for sale and would cost as much as an arena just to demolish.

They've been working on LeBreton for two years now, arena designs are probably well advanced, there's nothing to demolish, some decontamination and possibly far more land for development that would help finance the project.

Many of us think the current Mayor just has something against the NCC, maybe because they close some Parkways for active use over the summer (guy's entire campaign was about fighting the "war on cars"). Seems like a very passive-aggressive person.

https://theathletic.com/5236528/2024...enators-arena/

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

(guy's entire campaign was about fighting the "war on cars")

An easy way to win suburban votes.

As if LeBreton is sooooo far away from "downtown"

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by northernlights99

except it will cost an 'estimated' Half a Billion anti-heros to demolish the Stadium (roof and bowl) section by section, and then you have NO Large stadium left (which itself is a problem), so Cabinet is facing a damned if you do, damned if you don't, either way the decision they make won't be popular with many people.

Well, they could just leave the stadium alone. In 2,000 years it would be a major tourism attraction, just like the Roman Coliseum.

[northernlights99]

Yes they could just leave Olympic stadium there to rot. Close the stadium, condemn it. No money to demolish it, no money to renovate it. Wait till the economy improves and financing comes more available, let a future government deal with this mess. Closing the stadium might be the most politically safe way of dealing with this. Insurance will likely not cover the stadium much longer, they already do not insure the stadium for events between November and March.

[thurmas]

Was watching RDI news this morning they are reporting Legault will announce tomorrow that the Quebec government will replace the roof and technical ring of Olympic stadium. They also mentioned that they did study the cost of demolishing the stadium but that it would be $ 2 billion now so they will not do that. No report yet of cost of new roof and technical ring and no news if the interior of the stadium will see any renovations or not.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Was watching RDI news this morning they are reporting Legault will announce tomorrow that the Quebec government will replace the roof and technical ring of Olympic stadium. They also mentioned that they did study the cost of demolishing the stadium but that it would be $ 2 billion now so they will not do that. No report yet of cost of new roof and technical ring and no ne
ws if the interior of the stadium will see any renovations or not.

Stade olympique : le toit et l’anneau seront finalement remplacés

• The Legault government will announce on Monday that it will indeed replace the roof and technical ring of the Olympic Stadium
• The work will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but is not expected to reach a billion
• The project is expected to last 4 years
• The new roof will be rigid and fixed
• Demolishing the structure would cost more than $2 billion

Video (in French)

[elly63]

One thing that came to mind immediately is if the roof is rigid and fixed will it be transparent and how will they give the illusion of being outside, because the old fixed dome roof concept went the way of the dinosaurs.

Perhaps something along these lines

The NFL's First Translucent Roof Is a Super-Tough Monster
wired.com September 2 2016

When the Minnesota Vikings host the Green Bay Packers at the new US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on September 18, it will be the first regular-season NFL game played under a roof made of a material called ETFE. The translucent plastic lets enough daylight in to bring an outdoor feel to the 66,200-seat building, but it also gives Vikings fans a fully indoor stadium.

Commonly used in everything from greenhouses and skylights to solar cells and groundbreaking architecture, Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene film is durable, translucent, and much lighter than glass, so engineers can use it to form roofs, windows, and facades with much less structural support. Its elasticity and strength allows designers to stretch the film across large expanses, like the Estadio Cuauhtémoc soccer stadium in Puebla, Mexico and the Allianz Arena soccer venue in Munich, Germany.

Sixty percent of the roof---240,000 square feet in total---is clad in translucent ETFE pillows, bathing the playing surface in natural light even on overcast days. Air supply units within the three-layer ETFE foil pillows maintain a minimum pressure. Held in place by an aluminum frame connected to the steel brackets of the roof, the triple layering helps control the thermal needs of the stadium.

If you've ever been to Minnesota, you'll know that snow is a very big deal. The Vikings' old home, the Metrodome, collapsed under the weight of accumulated snow from a storm in 2010. The ETFE roof was specifically designed to dispatch snow efficiently. Its outer ETFE foil is printed with a silver ink to create a glaze that deflects sunlight and melts snow. The pitch on the roof is also sharp, matching the Northern European strategy of encouraging snow to slide off. Architect Bryan Trubey of HKS also added a snow gutter, which lines the top of the stadium with a snow-melting system to further limit any concern of the snow's weight collapsing the roof.

Construction costs on a stadium with a 989-foot-long single-ridge truss would have ballooned if it had been made with steel and membrane. Trubey says shifting to ETFE not only cut costs and gave Minneapolis a unique motif, but it took the stadium's roof from what was projected to be one of the heaviest in the world for its size to one of the lightest.

[WhipperSnapper]

$2 billion to demolish? LMAO.

Is there a better definition of a white elephant when the cost to demolish inflated so much as to make a billion dollar reno for an untenanted stadium seem the reasonable choice for the ignorant masses.

[JakeLRS]

FIFA 2026 Schedule
13 total games in Canada (7x Vancouver, 6x Toronto)

Vancouver BC PLACE
5x Group Stage Games (Ft. Canada x2)
1x Round of 32 Game
1x Round of 16 Game

Toronto BMO FIELD
5x Group Stage Games (Ft. Canada x1)
1x Round of 32 Game

[northernlights99]

So do we draw the conclusion that Olympic Stadium will be Closed for 4 years ?

Or can the Stadium still be open while this roof is being constructed ?

Or can they shift most of the work to the winter months and leave the Stadium open for summer events ?

Such as... well I won't say...

and like an Outdoor hockey game

have some big soccer games

I predicted that the Stadium will be Open air for a period of time. Looks like I am correct on that, just not sure if events will happen during this 4 year window.

I am hoping this construction can be done in Phases to allow some events to still happen.

[Djeffery]

I would speculate that the technical ring is the bulk of the complexity of this job and the stadium won't be able to host anything while this is being done. It would be cool if they did some reno work inside the bowl while all this was going on as well, but I can see the cost being an issue as it is without that type of work too.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

$2 billion to demolish? LMAO.

Is there a better definition of a white elephant when the cost to demolish inflated so much as to make a billion dollar reno for an untenanted stadium seem the reasonable choice for the ignorant masses.

Please enlighten us ignorant masses.

[craner]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

$2 billion to demolish? LMAO.

Is there a better definition of a white elephant when the cost to demolish inflated so much as to make a billion dollar reno for an untenanted stadium seem the reasonable choice for the ignorant masses.

Yeah no kidding LMAO - no effin’ way it is anywhere close to $2B to demolish.
I think the government just wants an excuse to eliminate that option.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I would speculate that the technical ring is the bulk of the complexity of this job and the stadium won't be able to host anything while this is being done. It would be cool if they did some reno work inside the bowl while all this was going on as well, but I can see the cost being an issue as it is without that type of work too.

I'm wondering if they already have a roof solution or if they will put it out to tender again. Will it be fabric, ETFE, metal? I would have to think that if they're serious this time and I get the impression they are, they would have to have a transparent roof to give the impression of outside. It would defy logic for me if they went 70s retro and make it seem like a dark concrete tomb.

[northernlights99]

The Stadium will be Closed for 4 years ?

Or the roof will be Complete in 4 years ?

Big difference.

Even BC Place's fancy Sunroof didn't take 4 years to Complete.

Does this timeline include Design / Engineering ? Or is this strictly a timeline to build ?

Any Federal money involved in this project ?

I still think they should spend this year 2024 stabilizing the current Overhang / strengthen the Technical ring and leave the Stadium as Open Air for next year 2025.

Then in 2026 start the roof and have it ready for 2027.

I mean I just can't visualize the sense in having the stadium Completely Closed for 4 years.

I hope they won't announce that.

If that is the case then the Montreal Impact will have to make some long term plans as to where they will play their early season games and potential playoff games if Saputo won't be used.