BC Place Stadium - The roof WILL finally collapse

[Kenadian]

The day that someone so earnestly predicted for years will finally come...but it will be just shy of 3 months after the Olympic flame has been lit. The roof at BC Place will be deflated on Monday morning.

"Only a handful of season-seat holders rejected the great outdoors and will wait for the club to return downtown sometime next year. Roof renovations at B.C. Place Stadium are set to begin in earnest next week with the controlled deflation of the existing cover which prompted the reported $468 million makeover."

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/sports/dawn+Empire+Stadium/2949088/story.html#ixzz0mfFBOQtC

[Sir Rols]

I wonder what happened to Yellowvest - maybe he watched the OC as a guest of the RCMP.

[mr.x]

The deflation has been deferred to Tuesday at 10 pm due to forecasts for inclement weather on Monday.

Goodbye dome, we'll miss you...but out with the old, in with the new.

[SkiFreak]

Goodbye dome, we'll miss you...but out with the old, in with the new.

They should give the dome a David Atkins-style sendoff, with plenty of fireworks and faulty hydraulics.

[Kenadian]

Any idea where the Sun Run will end? It normally finishes at BC Place but obviously that isn't happening this year since the Sun Run is May 9, the Sunday after deflation.

[mr.x]

Any idea where the Sun Run will end? It normally finishes at BC Place but obviously that isn't happening this year since the Sun Run is May 9, the Sunday after deflation.

Probably at the Concord Pacific lands, that's where this year's BMO Vancouver Marathon is starting/ending...and it's this weekend. I passed by there today, tons of people and there were huge tents and a big stage.

[Kenadian]

Yes, I saw that. But the Sun Run has over 50,000 runners. Will they all fit in there? Then again, after what I saw during the Olympics, Vancouver's streets will still look deserted by comparison. LOL!

[4gamesandcounting]

Yes, I saw that. But the Sun Run has over 50,000 runners. Will they all fit in there? Then again, after what I saw during the Olympics, Vancouver's streets will still look deserted by comparison. LOL!

lol!

[SkiFreak]

CBC: BC Place roof drops in final deflation

Any Vancouverites get photos of today's deflation? How about a vid?

[Olympian2004]

The roof has been deflated already:

Good bye, dome -- and thank you for providing us such great and atmospheric indoor ceremonies at the Olympics and Paralympics.

[Bazookajoe6969]

Time-lapse video of the deflation:

[mr.x]

Goodbye dome, thanks for the memories.

[Bob]

Good riddens!

[Kenadian]

I agree...good riddance. It was an eye sore. The new roof and upgrades will make for a much more dramatic stadium. Too bad this couldn't be done before the BIG event, but so be it. And what a catastrophe it would have been if YellowVest were right and the cauldron caused roof to deflate...oh the screaming horror as thousands of people flee from a very-slowly-gradually-eventually-getting-there-within-an-hour-or-so-hey-got-time-for-a-coffee? piece of collapsing fabric.

[Lord David]

I agree...good riddance. It was an eye sore. The new roof and upgrades will make for a much more dramatic stadium. Too bad this couldn't be done before the BIG event, but so be it. And what a catastrophe it would have been if YellowVest were right and the cauldron caused roof to deflate...oh the screaming horror as thousands of people flee from a very-slowly-gradually-eventually-getting-there-within-an-hour-or-so-hey-got-time-for-a-coffee? piece of collapsing fabric.

We can all blame that on VANOC, for not even considering any upgrades to BC place whatsoever during bidding. They could have at least proposed a replacement roof for then, even if it weren't to be retractable.

[mr.x]

We can all blame that on VANOC, for not even considering any upgrades to BC place whatsoever during bidding. They could have at least proposed a replacement roof for then, even if it weren't to be retractable.

Hmm...agreed. BC Place Stadium was very much an afterthought for both VANOC on local governments. Up until the accidental roof deflation in 2007, they seemed to have forgotten about the importance of BC Place and had only focused on building the sport venues, the convention centre, and Olympic Villages. It was only after the 2007 incident that they realized the stadium needed an overhaul, and even more so after the Beijing Olympics...but by then, it was already too late.

If it took a stadium deflation for VANOC and the BC government to get moving with BC Place, the incident should have occurred in 2006 or 2005.

But I will have to say that BC Place surprisingly surpassed my expectations, they did a really good job with it. Still, there were many limitations that David Atkins had to work with and it no doubt compromised some of his creativity:

1) an indoor stadium

2) an indoor stadium that is air-pressure supported...the doors of the stadium can only be open for a few seconds to maintain the air pressure inside. This means you have issues with having performers coming into the stadium as well as any big props you would like to wheel in during the ceremonies.

And because of these limitations, I feel the Vancouver Opening/Closing Ceremonies production should have been better funded to maximize what's possible inside the stadium.

[Kenadian]

The BC Place roof did prove useful, though, during the opening ceremony as it rained outside and protesters chanted just outside the Terry Fox arch. But I'd say the fault isn't VANOC's but rather PAVCO's and the BC Government. VANOC didn't own BC Place, they were just tenants for a few months. PAVCO and BCG own the stadium and I don't think they wanted to fund any changes because they feared it would have a backlash against the Olympics. "What? Another half billion dollars for the Olympics? This is Montreal 1976 all over again," screamed the angry taxpayers.

[4gamesandcounting]

For any Vancouverites out there does it feel odd not having such an iconic piece of architecture there anymore or are you just glad to be rid of it and on with the improvements? It certainly feels like you've lost an iconic landmark to me.

[mr.x]

For any Vancouverites out there does it feel odd not having such an iconic piece of architecture there anymore or are you just glad to be rid of it and on with the improvements? It certainly feels like you've lost an iconic landmark to me.

I feel the latter...it was iconic, though there are also people who also think it was an iconic ugly roof, but either way it's being replaced with something much better and perhaps even more iconic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgYG4PPYiJA

[mr.x]

MAY 14

[mr.x]

today from live interior webcam....imagine if the 2010 ceremonies were in an open-air venue:

[cormiermax]

Would have been spectacular if they would have just taken down the roof for the ceremony's, I wonder why they didn't do that.

[mr.x]

Would have been spectacular if they would have just taken down the roof for the ceremony's, I wonder why they didn't do that.

Well, David Atkins' already planned for an indoor ceremony with digital projections...it would be quite difficult to do that in an outdoor environment.

And I'm actually thankful that the Ceremonies were indoors....it was pouring rain during the Opening.

[cormiermax]

Well they could have chose to take it down well before planing, But I agree with you the rain really would have caused trouble.

[baron-pierreIV]

Oh rain would wreak havoc not only on the production but probably older people in the audience and amongst the dignitaries wouldn't show up; certainly many athletes would opt OUT of marching in the rain...so for Vancouver, it was best that it was done indoors. Certainly big open-air fireworks plans would be scaled down considerably. So, all in all, fuggedaboudit.

Edited June 7, 2010 by baron-pierreIV