The sports facilities at Montreal’s Olympic Park will remain closed until early 2025.
Nearly six months ago, a major fire tore through the park’s facilities, forcing the sports centre and the National Sports Institute (INS) to close down.
The spring fire sent many Canadian Olympic teams scrambling to find other venues to train with only a few months to spare before this past summer’s Paris Olympic Games. On Friday, the Olympic Park’s management posted an update to social media, describing the work to decontaminate the facilities as a “colossal task.”
The fire started at the base of the stadium next to its ventilation system, spreading the smoke throughout the Montreal tower.
According to the park, the fire affected an area that spans 100,000 square metres and uses a ventilation network that is more than nine kilometres long. In April, the provincial government approved a $40-million subsidy for the repairs.
“The fire caused significant damage due to the smoke infiltration in the sports complex and in the ventilation system as well as all the water that was needed to put out the fire,” reads the Facebook message from the Olympic Park.
“For obvious safety reasons, it is imperative that we remove all the contaminants related to the fire to completely eliminate the risk of them spreading throughout the areas that have already been cleaned and decontaminated.”
According to the Olympic Park, work is progressing and about 10 per cent of the park’s spaces still need to be decontaminated.
“We’re aware that prolonging the closure of the sports complex is causing major inconveniences for athletes, our clientele and staff as well as tenants and people that work in the Montreal tower,” the statement reads.
Earlier this year, Quebec announced it would spend $870 million to replace the stadium’s roof and technical ring. The provincial government justified the move by saying a new roof and ring would make the landmark a bigger draw for larger events.
From an ambitious design that took a decade and a half to build, to the saga of the failing roof, Montrealers know the story of the Big O, or the Big Owe, very well. But despite its astronomical and ongoing cost, the story isn’t likely to end.
