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Quebec’s tourism minister confirmed Friday that the province has approved plans to modernize the inside of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
In a news release, Amélie Dionne said modernizing the infrastructure would allow the stadium “to fully play its strategic role as an economic hub for Quebec.” Dionne did not put a price tag on the project.
The announcement comes 50 years to the day of the opening of the 1976 Olympic games at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
Joelle Brodeur, the executive director of the Olympic Park told Radio-Canada’s Tout un Matin that renos will breathe new life into the stadium ensuring its legacy for the next 50 years.
The planned work includes a reconfiguration of the stands and improvements to concession areas and main points of service, Brodeur said.
The seating will be completely overhauled in the lower section of the stadium, with the stands moving in by 28 metres on each side, she said.
“The goal is to bring fans closer to the action — whether it’s a game or a show — while also reconfiguring the layout to improve the viewing angle from the stands,” she said.
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According to Radio-Canada, a renovation project for the interior of the iconic stadium includes refurbishing the stands, creating VIP boxes and premium spaces, as well as upgrading the restrooms and food concession stands.
Those improvements, combined with ongoing work on the stadium’s roof, should be complete by 2028 and will allow for events to be held year round.
Sarah Justine Leduc-Villeneuve of Toursime Montréal sees the modernization plan as “game changer.”
“We hope at this point we’ll be able to receive huge stars like Taylor Swif, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Céline Dion,” she said.
In recent years, the venue has been snubbed by major stars due to infrastructure problems, long-term closure for repair work and poor acoustics.
Brodeur said solutions for acoustics have been incorporated into the revamped design.
CF Montréal, like Tourisme Montréal, welcomed the announcement. The team said in an online statement that “a modern stadium is an essential element for the development of professional soccer in Montreal and Quebec.”
Starting next year, Major League soccer will be adopting a new schedule that will include more fall, winter and spring games.
The team’s current home, Stade Saputo, is completely open to the elements and both the team and the league have been pushing for the work to be done at the Big O.
Sports commentator Meeker Guerrier agreed a modern stadium is essential for the team’s survival in Montreal.
“It’ll basically save CF Montreal,” he said, “because the commissioner of the MLS, Don Garber, pretty much said, ‘if you don’t have an inside venue, a covered venue for the new schedule, it’s going to be hard to keep the team here.'”
CF Montreal says it will analyze the details of the project and continue discussion with various parties to “evaluate the next steps for the club.”
Province hopes to involve private sector
Notably absent from the tourism minister’s announcement was just how much it will cost to overhaul the stadium’s interior.
The new roof will cost an estimated $870 million. That project remains on time and within budget, Dionne said.
As for the rest, Dionne said it’s too early to know. She said cost estimates will be drawn up and the hope is to go to market and involve the private sector.
“For the time being, we are negotiating and not quoting any figures,” she said.
Moshe Lander, a sports economist and lecturer at Concordia University, expressed his skepticism over the economic viability of the project.
“I’m sure whatever number they quote is gonna go in over budget and they don’t have a tenant,” he said.
“So what are they going to do with this monstrosity that they spent billions of dollars, when it’s all said and done, repairing?”
Amélie Dionne is Quebec’s tourism minister. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
Soccer, and what else?
Even if CF Montréal were to become a tenant, Lander said it would be difficult to fill a 56,000-seat stadium and that it would only be used for roughly five per cent of the year.
He said that raises a question: what it will be used for the rest of the year?
“How many times can you ask Taylor Swift to come back on tour and stay in Montreal? How many times can you hope to host the World Cup now that it’s leaving North America for at least the next 20 years?” he asked.
Ultimately, he feels the government should focus on other priorities.
WATCH | What’s the legacy of the 1976 Olympics?:
Is the legacy of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal a good one, 50 years on?
A half century after the eyes of the world were on Montreal, which hosted a memorable Olympic Games that ended up costing the city and the province a sum that took a generation to pay off, the impacts and the lessons learned from the experience are significant.