Replacement of Montreal's Olympic stadium roof delayed for 3rd time

For years, Montreal has been patiently awaiting a roof replacement for the Olympic Stadium. Now, for the third time, it's been told it will have to wait even longer than expected.

According to a spokesperson for the Olympic Park, the current state of the pandemic is making it more difficult to advance various projects at the expected pace. 

"Olympic Park is working very hard to move the roof replacement forward," said Cedric Essiminy.

In 2017, the Quebec government approved a quarter-billion dollar budget for a new roof, to be installed by the end of this year. In 2019, government officials said they would aim for 2024 in order to make sure they get it right. 

Now, the renovations have been delayed yet again and neither the Quebec government nor the Olympic Park have proposed a new date for the completion of the project.

The current 23-year-old dilapidated Kevlar roof has had more than 16,000 tears over the years, according to the latest data from Olympic Park. For safety reasons, no event can be held in the venue if the weather forecast calls for more than three centimetres of snow or three millimetres of sleet.

The stadium has had its roof removed at least twice since it was first installed in 1987, more than a decade after the 1976 Olympics the building was made for. 

Since a second roof was installed in 1998 and still sustained recurrent damage, many projects were presented, calls for applications were launched, but nothing came to fruition.

In the spring of 2021, Quebec decided to move forward with the only bidder in the call for qualifications: the Groupe Pomerleau-Canam (GPC), a consortium that includes Quebec companies.

Since then, however, it's been radio silence. No proposal has been submitted and no business