Never let it be said that Montrealers can’t beat a dead horse.
Radio Canada is reporting that millions of more dollars–tens of millions–will be injected into Montreal’s Olympic Park to make it more energy efficient.
The actual costs have not been revealed, but if history is any indication, chances are very high that they will not come is as advertised.
Olympic Stadium, site of the 1976 Summer Games, turned 40 this past summer and she always was–and remains–an expensive date.
How expensive?
The 1970 estimate was that the Games would cost $120-million in total, with $71-milllion budgeted for the Olympic Stadium itself.
The final tally was $1.6-billion, a more than 13-fold increase, including at least $1.1-billion for the stadium alone.
It took 30 years to pay the debt load.
“I think it ended up costing more than all the covered stadiums in North America,” says Dick Pound, a former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee.
And the hits just keep on coming.
In it’s 2015 annual report, the agency that runs the stadium reported that the roof was torn in 6,776 places and cost $454,000 to maintain–down from $1.4-million in 2014.
More than three centimetres of snow on that costly roof effectively shuts down use during the winter.
Now, according to Radio Canada, comes a total replacement of the whole energy system at Olympic Park, including ventilation, refrigeration, heating and power generation.
Among the expected changes is a switch from steam to hot water for heating and a new ventilation system that will recover heat from computer equipment and employees.
Olympic Park officials say the stadium hosts about 180 events a year–from car shows to tractor pulls to gastronomy fairs.
It also houses some provincial government offices and training facilities and another 250,000 people visit the Olympic tower yearly.
According to Radio Canada, the Olympic Park consumes energy equal to that produced by 13 million litres of gasoline.
Always know as “The Big Owe,” the grey lady, still looming over Montreal’s East End, seems intent on never surrendering what she is famous for.
With files from Radio-Canada, CBC, Montreal Gazette.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.