The project to replace the roof and technical ring of the Montreal Olympic Stadium receives a mixed reception from heritage, engineering and architecture experts joined by The duty. They note the importance of taking into account, in this exercise, the heritage character and the original aims of this building, which was initially to have a retractable roof.
The Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, revealed on Monday certain details of the project estimated at $870 million aimed at providing the Olympic Stadium with a new fixed suspended roof and a lighter technical ring by 2028. The lifespan of these new installations, once completed, is estimated at 50 years. This project thus ensures the “sustainability” of the stadium, at least for half a century, notes with relief the architect and professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal Philippe Lupien. “I think that, all things considered, the intervention we are doing will reassure people for 50 years,” he says in an interview.
In a press release issued Monday, the government of Quebec recalls that the roof of the building currently accumulates more than 20,000 tears, making its replacement “in the short term” necessary. The experts joined by The duty note, however, that the selected project, led by a consortium formed by the firms Pomerleau and Canam, does not respect the initial idea put forward by the late architect of the Olympic Stadium, Roger Taillibert, who wanted this stadium to be equipped with a retractable roof.
“I understand very well the position of the current management company of the Olympic Park not to require that the roof be openable because none of the current functions of the stadium require that the roof be open,” notes Mr. Lupien. The latter, however, hopes that when the expected new roof has reached the end of its life, interest will be expressed to provide the stadium with a removable roof respecting the “signature” of the initial designers of the building, erected in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games. of 1976. “Perhaps in 50 years we will want to return to the original concept,” he hopes. “There is nothing that is irreversible. »
“It’s disposable”
The engineer François Delaney, for his part, designed a retractable roof for the Olympic Stadium around ten years ago, but his project did not receive a favorable reception from Quebec and the site managers. “My roof is good for centuries. Theirs is 50 years. It’s disposable,” says Mr. Delaney, who also affirms that the project he has cherished for years would have been less expensive to carry out. The Olympic Park Development and Development Company, for its part, argued on Monday that the installation of a removable roof on the stadium would have involved the addition of structures that were too large and costly, especially since a Fixed roof currently meets most of the organization’s needs.
“It’s a structuring project for a generation,” notes Héritage Montréal’s policy director, Dinu Bumbaru, regarding the investments unveiled Monday to renovate the Olympic Stadium. “But we would like to understand how this project fits into the mission of ensuring respect for the architectural and historical heritage of the stadium”, as provided for in the Law on the Olympic Park Development and Enhancement Corporation, continues Mr. Bumbaru.
The dismantling of the stadium’s current roof will begin next summer, Quebec announced Monday. The building will remain closed for the duration of this work.