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<tr><td>Broke ground</td><td>April 28, 1973</td></tr>

Le Stade Olympique <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:Le Stade Olympique 3.jpg </td></tr>
Location	4549 Pierre de Coubertin Avenue Montreal, Quebec H1V 3N7
Opened	July 17, 1976 (Olympics) April 15, 1977 (Baseball)
Owner	Régie des Installations Olympiques (Government of Quebec) <tr><td>Surface</td><td>Grass (1976) AstroTurf (1977–2001; 2005-2006)) Defargo Astrograss (2002–2003) FieldTurf (2004) Temporary Grass (2007 for FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada)</td></tr><tr><td>Construction cost</td><td>C$ 770 million C$ 1.4 billion (with interest)</td></tr><tr><td>Architect</td><td>Roger Taillibert</td></tr>
Tenants
Montreal Expos (MLB) (1977–2004) Montreal Alouettes (CFL) (1976–1997; 1997-present [playoff games]) Montreal Manic (NASL) (1981–1983) Montreal Machine (WLAF) (1991–1992)
Seats
Baseball: 43,739 Football: 65,255

Montreal's Olympic Stadium (In French: Le Stade Olympique) was the main venue of the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos from 1977 until the franchise was moved to Washington, D.C. after the 2004 season. It now serves as a 56,040-seat multipurpose stadium for the city.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Background 1.2 Construction 1.2.1 Opening 1.3 Recent History 2 Transit 3 Stadium Usage 3.1 Baseball 4 Facts and Figures 5 See also 6 External links 6.1 Multimedia

[edit] History

[edit] Background

The stadium was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert to be a very elaborate facility featuring a retractable roof, which was to be opened and closed by a huge 574 foot (approx. 175 metres) tower — the tallest inclined structure in the world, 6 feet taller than the Washington Monument, and the sixth tallest building in Montreal. The Olympic swimming pool is located under this tower.

The building was built as the main stadium for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. The stadium was host to various events including: the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, football finals, and some equestrian events.

[edit] Construction

Initially projected to cost C$250 million, the stadium's costs quickly spiraled out of control. The Quebec government introduced a special tobacco tax in May 1976 to help recoup its investment. The final cost of the stadium was to be C$1 billion, which was paid off in October 2006. Perceived by many to be a white elephant, the stadium has also humorously been dubbed The Big Owe (or Uh-O). Sometimes 'The Big Mistake' is also used. In a speech announcing that Montreal would host the Olympic Games, then-mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, is remembered for saying, "The Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby." This now-famous quote is often parodied by residents.

[edit] Opening

Problems plagued the stadium from the time it opened for the Olympic Games, when it was only half built. Seating 58,500 at the time, the stadium was not fully completed in time for the games due to strikes by construction workers, leaving it without a tower or roof for the opening and several years following. Both the tower and the roof, made of over 60,000 feet (approximately 18,500 meters) of kevlar, were not completed for over a decade, and it was not until 1988 that it was possible to retract the roof. The 65-ton roof then proved difficult to retract, and was occasionally torn in heavy winds.

[edit] Recent History

Olympic Stadium was remodeled in 1991, with 12,000 seats being removed for Expos games. On September 8 of that year, support beams snapped and caused a 55 ton concrete slab to fall on to an interior walkway. No one was injured, but the Expos had to play their final 13 home games on the road. The following season in 1992, the retractable roof concept was abandoned in favour of a new permanent cover roof. This fixed roof was temporarily removed (for repairs) in May 1998, turning the park into an outdoor stadium for the season. In January 1999, a 350 square metre portion of the roof collapsed, dumping ice and snow on workers that were setting up for the annual Montreal Auto Show. This led to the auto show leaving the Olympic Stadium for good. Repaired once again, the permanent roof was back for the 1999 season and has remained on the park since; however, even this roof has proven less than reliable, as structural breaches have occurred during the winter months (due to snow and ice accumulation). A third replacement roof is being considered as of March 2006.

In addition to the Expos, the park was home to the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes for a number of years, but they now use the Percival Molson Stadium of McGill University. The stadium is, however, still used for the team's last regular season game and for all playoff games. The stadium was also the home of the Montreal Manic soccer team from 1981 - 1983. A 1981 playoff game against the Chicago Sting attracted a crowd of over 58,000. The stadium also has various other multipurpose uses: indoor exhibitions, monster truck shows, and so forth (excluding winter months, due to safety issues with the current roof in place). In 2005, the FieldTurf surface was sold for $1 million (Canadian) to the BC Place domed stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is being used by the CFL B.C. Lions.

In 2006 the stadium was finally paid off, the total cost including repairs, renovations, construction, interest, inflation along with other expenses brings the total amount paid to over $2 Billion (CAD).

[edit] Transit

The stadium is directly connected to the Pie-IX metro station on the Green Line of the Montreal Metro.

[edit] Stadium Usage

[edit] Baseball

Main article: Montreal Expos

The park opened for baseball on April 15, 1977, with the Philadelphia Phillies beating the Montreal Expos 7–2. The Expos played their home games at the stadium from then on, except for 13 games played on the road in 1991 due to structural problems with the stadium and 22 home games played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico in each of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Their final home game was a 9–1 loss against the Florida Marlins on September 29, 2004. At the time, Olympic Stadium tied for last place in quality among active venues in Major League Baseball, sharing the dubious honor with the Minnesota Twins' Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

[edit] Facts and Figures

• Olympic Stadium was extensively featured on the final episode of The Amazing Race: Family Edition, when teams spent part of a leg in Montreal.

• Olympic Stadium also hosted the 1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

• The roof is only 52 metres (171 ft) above the field of play. As a result, a number of pop-ups and long home runs hit the roof since play began, necessitating the painting of orange lines on the roof to separate foul balls from fair balls.

• The Montreal games of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 will be played at Olympic Stadium on a temporary grass surface as per the wishes of FIFA.

• The stadium has earned the nickname "The Big Owe", by local residents in reference to its massive cost overruns.

• The scenes representing Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the 2002 film The Sum of All Fears were filmed at Olympic Stadium.

[edit] See also

• Montreal Expos
• List of Canadian Football League stadiums

[edit] External links

• Ballpark Digest visit to Olympic Stadium
• Ballparks.com
• Football Ballparks.com
• Baseball Reference
• Baseball Library
• Régie des installations olympiques (Government of Quebec)
• Google maps
• Olympic Stadium datasheet on Images Montreal

[edit] Multimedia

• CBC Archives A clip from 1975 - Stadium architect talks about his design.
• CBC Archives - A look back on the history of the stadium (1999).

Preceded by: Jarry Park 1969–1976

Home of the Montreal Expos 1977–2004

Succeeded by: RFK Stadium 2005–

Summer Olympic stadia

Athens, 1896 • Paris, 1900 • St Louis, 1904 • London, 1908 • Stockholm, 1912 • Berlin, 1916 • Antwerp, 1920 • Paris, 1924 • Amsterdam, 1928 • Los Angeles, 1932 • Berlin, 1936 • Helsinki, 1940 • London, 1944 • London, 1948 • Helsinki, 1952 • Melbourne, 1956 • Rome, 1960 • Tokyo, 1964 • Mexico City, 1968 • Munich, 1972 • Montreal, 1976 • Moscow, 1980 • Los Angeles, 1984 • Seoul, 1988 • Barcelona, 1992 • Atlanta, 1996 • Sydney, 2000 • Athens, 2004 • Beijing, 2008 • London, 2012

Current stadiums in the Canadian Football League
Western Division		Eastern Division
BC Place Stadium | Commonwealth Stadium | McMahon Stadium | Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field		Canad Inns Stadium | Ivor Wynne Stadium | Olympic Stadium | Percival Molson Stadium | Rogers Centre

Montreal landmarks
Buildings	Biodome | Biosphère | Bell Centre | Canadian Centre for Architecture | Montreal Casino | Complexe Desjardins | Montreal Forum | Grande Bibliothèque du Québec | Habitat '67 | Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral | McCord Museum | Montreal Science Centre | Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica | Olympic Stadium | Palais des congrès de Montréal | Place des Arts | Place Ville-Marie | Redpath Museum | Saint Joseph's Oratory | Tour de la Bourse | Underground City | World Trade Centre Montreal
Neighbourhoods	Chinatown | Old Montreal | Old Port | Quartier international de Montréal
Nature and Parks	Jardin botanique de Montréal | Mount Royal
Islands	Île Bizard | Island of Montreal | Île Notre-Dame | Nuns' Island | Saint Helen's Island
Transportation	Montréal-Mirabel International Airport | Montreal Metro | Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport | Windsor Station | Central Station

Coordinates: 45°33′30″N, 73°33′6″Wde:Olympiastadion (Montreal) es:Estadio Olímpico de Montreal fr:Stade Olympique de Montréal la:Stadium Olympiae Montis Regii ja:オリンピック・スタジアム (モントリオール) pt:Estádio Olímpico de Montreal