Olympic Stadium: the bill just climbed to 1 billion (and counting)

I’m outraged this morning by the front page of the Journal de Montréal. Not because it’s not good or because it’s clickbait, as the other guy would say, but rather because I’m AMAZED at being taken for a ride as a taxpaying citizen.

At the beginning of February, we learned that major renovations would be undertaken at the Olympic Stadium to replace the roof and the technical ring supporting the new roof. The anticipated cost: $870 million. 18% to dismantle the existing roof, 12% to build the new glass technical ring (!?) and 69% to build and install the new roof.

Of course, we all know that in Quebec, an $870 million contract won’t stay at $870 million. There are always extras and unforeseen circumstances.

And we suspected that after that, we’d want to upgrade the sound system, scoreboard, seats, etc., so we decided to go ahead with it.

For all these reasons, I blew my top with Nilton Jorge and Sofiane Benzaza on the 78th episode of the Couscous Piri Piri podcast. Just because I’m not an engineer doesn’t mean I can’t ask questions about our collective expenses.

One month later, we learned that construction giants Pomerleau and Canam had been awarded the mandate to rebuild our (antiquated) Olympic stadium… which will be ready in 2027, if all goes well!

Which means it will be usable again in 2028 or 2029. It’s like the R.E.M.; it always takes a little longer than expected in Quebec…

Well, this morning, the Journal de Montréal’s Bureau of Investigation got hold of some information that’s troubling me: the ventilation, lighting, sound and electricity will have to be redone once the new roof is installed… and that should cost around $130 million, according to the Journal.

870 million + 130 million = 1,000 million. Or 1 billion, if you prefer.

To this billion will then be added the replacement of bleachers/seats, new dressing rooms, passageways…

And the giant screen behind center field. Our current screen has the quality of an old Atari console, plugged into a bulging CRT TV with several broken pixels.

Did I tell you I’m fed up?

What’s worse is that it’s my money that’s being taken away to invest in such a big project that won’t be profitable, and then our taxes or the multiple taxes imposed on us are increased because we spent it badly in the first place. No one is ever accountable when it comes to using public money.

No private company would have agreed to invest more than $1 billion in the Olympic Stadium.

Why not simply destroy the Stadium? Because it’s a symbol of Montreal?

Damn, we love living in the past in Quebec. We can have je me souviens written on our license plates.

Building (and demolishing, hehe) in Quebec is always more expensive than elsewhere. And not just when it comes to bridges across the St. Lawrence !

I look at the stadiums being built – or to be built – in the NFL…

I look at the renovations at the Rogers Center…

I look at the new Madison Square Garden…

I look at the removable roofs of some soccer stadiums in Europe…

I look at the giant screens in the latest stadiums in the United States and Spain…

And I’m reminded that we’re going to spend over a billion to refurbish the old Olympic Stadium, which doesn’t host any teams on a regular basis and which, even after all these renovations, will sound like crap because of its original concrete construction. Taylor Swift won’t be playing her songs with echo a few steps from the Pie IX metro station, guys girls…

What’s more, there won’t be any more restaurants or bars around the Stadium…

And we’re still waiting for the hotel they promised to build on the Olympic Park site.

Oh yes, I forgot, this week we learned that the Quebec government had (surreptitiously) earmarked $40 million to renovate the Olympic Park, more specifically the sports center, following a fire that broke out there not so long ago.

Worst of all, all this was STILL done without any real public debate.

Our Stadium 2.0 could easily cost us over 1.5 billion in renovations, with all the extras I’m talking about here this morning.

We get the politicians we deserve, they say. Guess we don’t deserve much good in Quebec…

Could we have real private investors to manage our professional sports teams and their infrastructure, then keep the taxpayers’ money to have better roads, a better education system, a better healthcare system and shorter court delays?

Can I have access to quality services at this level, especially while paying over $100,000 in annual taxes with my family and business?

Highlights

– Extra: The Alouettes don’t have their own training ground or stadium… and CF Montreal built its stadium – which it doesn’t dare renovate – on land it doesn’t own. Damn, professional sports are complicated when you’re not called “Le Canadien de Montréal” in Quebec…

– The Montreal CF is one of the teams with the fewest touches of the ball in the opponent’s 18-yard box.

– Will Soccer Canada replace Mauro Biello before the Copa America?