New B.C. Place roof 'delayed'
Artist's conception of the proposed retractable roof for B.C. Place, which might be a victim of hard economic times.
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: August 26, 2009 2:42 PM
A new roof for B.C. Place stadium, announced last year for after the Olympics, is being reviewed by the B.C. government's treasury board in light of cost-cutting and government deficits.
Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger said Wednesday the review amounts to a "slight delay" and he will have more to say about the project in a few days.
Proposed as a $360 million retractable roof to be financed through development of land around the stadium, the project soon became a target for opposition politicians. They said it was too late for the 2010 ceremonies and an extravagance out of step with tough times.
Krueger said he expects the project will still be completed by 2011, but he sidestepped questions about whether it will be a retractable roof.
The stadium's original air-supported Teflon dome was deemed suitable for the opening, closing and medal ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics, despite stains and patches accumulated over 20 years. But in January 2007, a combination of snow and high wind caused the roof to rip and deflate.
"It's a complicated world we're in right now," Krueger said. "It's a very expensive project, a very large project, and we're in very challenging economic times."
The retractable roof proposal was divided into 40 separate contracts, which attracted a total of 160 bidders.
"The existing roof could be replaced," Krueger said. "The retractable roof is certainly preferred by a lot of the people who are engaged in this whole process."
He declined to give a current cost estimate for the project.
v2
