Olympic Stadiums roof rapidly deteriorates

The roof of the Olympic Stadium is deteriorating at a faster rate than anticipated, ripping more than 2,000 times in the last year alone.

It now has almost triple the number of rips it had a year ago itwent from roughly 1,200 in 2012to about 3,400 this year.

Officials say the building is safe all the tears in the retractable roof have been repaired but maintenance costs have spiked from $400,000 to $800,000.

Opposition demands new roof

Quebecs official opposition party says its time to give the stadium a new roof, and to use the building again to host events during the winter.

With all the upcoming events, not only would new revenues pay for a part of the roof, but on top of that, the stadium is a part of our heritage, said LiberalMNALucieCharlebois.

Officials at theRgiedesinstallationsolympiques(RIO) said its already too late to get a new roof for the city of Montreals375thanniversary in 2017.

Government hesitates

ThePartiQuebecois says it's hesitant about investing such a large sum of moneyin the Olympic Stadium.

Im not sure that right now I can sell this idea of a new roof for the stadium, said Quebec Premier PaulineMarois.

A new retractable roof would cost at least $300 million, while a fixed roof would cost about $200 million.

The challenge that we have is that it costs a lot of money for a new fixed roof and we still dont know how to use the stadium -- how we can make it cost-effective forMontrealersand for Quebec, said Michel Leblanc, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.

The members of the business community that I consulted on the Olympic stadium were very clear: we need to understand the business model. Its clear that we dont want to spend millions of dollars without knowing what were going to do with the stadium.

Montreal mayor DenisCoderresaid a new roof is necessary, but its not on his list of priorities.

A new roof is needed to ensure the future of the stadium, but I also have a series of priorities right now. At a certain point though, we have to reflect on this issue,Coderresaid.