Rhys Visits Montreal's Olympic Stadium

Our next excursion brought us way out towards Montreal's East end to the Olympic Stadium. Affectionately known as "The Big O" because of its shape, it was built for the Summer Olympics help here in Montreal in 1976. Unlike many Olympic stadiums built for past games, our stadium is still used daily. I, even in my day swam here at competitive swim meets, so this visit was a real treat for me as it's been a decade since I last competed. We had two parts to our visit. After spending what seemed like an extremely long time on the metro we made our way to get our tickets for the guided tour and a trip up the funicular to the top of the tower. The tours stop over the Winter, but lickily this was the first day they were back, so our tour guide confessed she was a little rusty but was grateful for a small tour group (made up of Rhys and me). After learning about the history of the stadium, we were brought into pool where there was a meet taking place, then we saw the main stadium, and then out to see the tower. There's something very eerie about an empty stadium, so echo-y. The tower was really interesting not only because it's very unique in a stadium, and not just because it wasn't finished in time for the Olympics, but also because of the roof's structure. The roof of the main stadium is made up of a weather proof fabric that is retracted by cables into the tower to make the stadium open-roof. This design has not been without its problems...like snow (which we get a bit of) making the roof cave in. As a result there have been several revamps upping the price of the roof. So in 1976, the QC government imposed a tobacco tax to help pay off the roof, which was happily fully payed off in 2006 (no that's not a typo).
After our tour we went up to the top of the tower to get a better view of the structure which gives the The Big O the 'O'. Though it was a rainy day, the views towards downtown and back towards Ile Ste. Helen were amazing, and I never tire of seeing places from high up! I think it gave Rhys a good perspective of the city, and the mountain. Plus I'd never been up the tower and considering I was born here, it was about time!