Olympic Stadium | Will this be enough?

The Olympic Stadium has long been my second home.

I saw over 200 Expo games there. First under the stars, then under the roof.

I was in the left field bleachers for Denis Boucher’s first start. I was in the press box during the years of decline. I was in tears when Claude Raymond took the microphone after the last local match.

Cameron Porter’s goal? I was there. The time the Montreal Machine was crushed 44-0? Here. The incredible triumph of Gambian footballers against those of Portugal at the U20 World Cup? Itou. When I collaborated on the writing of the summer thriller The Presstwo years ago, where do you think I located the confrontation between the police and the terrorists?

Eh yes.

In the stadium.

I am the typical Montrealer who should applaud the upcoming renovations. Who should be happy about the improvements. Who should congratulate the government for its courage. I am incapable of it. This is because the pharaonic investment announced on Monday – 870 million – is only linked to one certainty: the repair of the roof and the technical ring.

The enclosure, the playing surface, the acoustics, the seats, the boxes, the passageways, all of this will remain unchanged. This was already an issue for the atmosphere in 1998. Imagine in 2028.

Will the modernization of the technical ring and the addition of a skylight be enough to attract the most prestigious sporting competitions? Will Taylor Swift want to come sing in a stadium that sometimes sounds like an AM radio station? Nothing is guaranteed.

It’s a bit like buying $500 worth of lures to go fishing on a lake where no one ever catches a big fish. Maybe you’ll catch a two-meter sturgeon. But maybe not, either.

Let’s review potential sports tenants. The home run would be a major league baseball club. This would ensure at least 81 events per year. Except that Commissioner Rob Manfred made it clear to Montrealers, in 2022, that the door was double-locked. Stop knocking, we won’t open the door for you. The project is at a standstill.

CF Montreal is already a tenant of the Olympic Stadium. He uses it in winter for his training, as well as for a match or two, before the snow melts. However, the club does not intend to settle there permanently. “Our home is here,” its president, Gabriel Gervais, confirmed to us last October, showing us the Saputo stadium pitch.

The Alouettes? It’s a possibility, although its leaders appreciate the old-fashioned charm of Percival-Molson stadium, which they privately describe as Montreal’s Fenway Park.

The Soccer World Cup? Too late. It will move to North America in 2026. Next time, it might not be until the 2040s. The Olympic Games? When I surveyed elected officials on this issue last summer, the project had no traction. Athletics events? A track should be built. It’s not in the budgets.

At a press conference on Monday, Minister Caroline Proulx mentioned parts of the NFL. Montreal has submitted its application, in the fall of 2022, to host one or two games of the International Series per year. The promoters want a one-year agreement, followed by a two-year extension. It’s realistic. The NFL has previously hosted exhibition games at Olympic Stadium. We can also think that the Canadian League would like to present the Gray Cup there. Afterwards, we understand, no State invests the equivalent of the cost of a new stadium for two or three more sporting events per year.

This is why the Quebec government is focusing heavily on other sectors of activity. He targeted major artist tours. Trade fairs, in particular, especially in winter. This would free up dates at the Palais des congrès, which is overcrowded. On the other hand, from January to March, there could be cohabitation issues with CF Montreal.

Monday’s announcement obviously sparked strong reactions. The preliminary bill of 870 million goes badly. Very bad. Several readers asked me if the Coalition Avenir Québec had other options.

There are two.

Demolition and abandonment.

Contrary to popular belief, yes, it is possible to destroy the Stadium, even if the green metro line passes underneath. Possible, but extremely complicated. Due to the numerous buildings present in the same quadrilateral (the tower, the swimming pools, the metro, the Biodôme, the Saputo stadium, the cinema, the Pierre-Charbonneau center, the Maurice-Richard arena), stadium one would have to be dismantled piece at a time. Oh yes, there is also asbestos on the site. The demolition would take years, and cost at least $2 billion, according to Olympic Park estimates.

Ultimately, we would end up with a 30-meter hole in sloping ground, under the most beautiful observatory in the city…

The other option is to simply abandon the Stadium. “If nothing is done within a year or two at best,” explained Minister Caroline Proulx, “the roof will have to be dismantled. Winterize the stadium. Lead to a definitive and complete closure of the Olympic Stadium. Unthinkable when we realize that this monument is one of the cornerstones of economic and tourist development for Quebec and for the east of Montreal, that it is neglected. » So we would do the minimum to ensure that things did not collapse, until the day it would no longer hold up, and a new government would be stuck with a hot potato.

This is where we are.

To choose, between three poisons, the one that tastes the least bitter.