I didn't listen to the interview but apparently the RIO is saying the Als & Impact (yeah I know they have a new name) can play there with a maximum of 11,000 fans respecting a 2 meter distance. And that they are looking to purchase a FIFA quality playing surface.
Obviously the vaccine rollout rate will have a say in all this.
The story also says the Als will be moving their administrative offices to the Olympic Park.
This makes some sense. except that the place is an enclosed building with a notoriously poor and obsolete HVAC.
I see that they did approve $250 MILLION for a retractable to be installed before the World Cup in 2026
Technically it should but as far as I know it can no longer be opened safely or without risk of completely ripping appart.
I did correct my post, I googled it and see that the retractable roof won't be in until 2024, ready for the 2026 World Cup
Retractable is kind of misleading. They are looking at a roof that could be "convertible" meaning they could at the cost of a few million dollars a year. Remove solid panels in the spring and re-install them in the fall. Making it an open sky stadium in the summer and enclosed in cold season.
This is a very interesting shift in thinking by the Alouettes and the RIO. For a long time the Alouettes were treated like third rate tenants by the RIO. Now it looks like both parties are looking at each other as partners out of self-preservation. A renovated, comfortable, well appointed Big O IMO would be a good solution for the Als. Moving around the island of Montreal has become a real issue, at the very least you could see a split schedule where the team plays its home games in June, July, August at McGill and then moves its games to the Big O from September to November. This would make McGill very happy as they do not like having a pro team on location during the busy school semester and it would make fans happy not to have to worry about weather when purchasing season tickets.
Also, looks like Montreal will be capable to hose a Grey Cup in a fully renovated Big O by 2024/2026. This is very important to the future of the league and the team.
With the Province of Quebec backing out of investing in the World Cup, not sure if that will affect that as well.
In the interview, he says the two are separate and the decision not to finance the WC has zero impact on the maintenance and repair budgets of the stadium.
Didn't know they backed out. But with the after affects of covid I'm not surprised, funding for sports is going to be a very low priority. We will be paying off debt for many years.
Wouldn't surprise me if MLSE will take on extra games at BMO and fund the expansion of BMO stadium.
Don't worry. Trudeau promised a Great Reset. He just handed out 18 billions for light rail and other pet projects to please Greta.
You are correct.
It doesn't open anymore
Hopefully this panel roof works out better than the cable tensioned tarps. They never seemed to last.
Another distraction from his pandemic response.
I know, Vaccination rate has just fallen to 59 ranked among nations. He is a joke.
You do know that the actual vaccination is run by the provinces right?
Do you know that the provinces have only given out 90 percent of the vaccines that they have? How is that Trudeau's fault? We are crying for more but have not used up what we have
The suppliers are not honouring the contracts....How is that Trudeau's fault
Please RO. FIFTY NINTH! Behind Mexico, Bangladesh, Indonesia. Please don't fall for the Banana in the swim trunks by Prince Black Face of Peoplekind.
JF Legault from Québec says he has no vaccines, that Trudeau can't get him any.
That number won't matter over time once Canadians start to get vaccines from other sources. It will start to climb back up. Be patient. Follow the protocols, your turn to get the vaccine will come
