New retractable structure
Glenda Luymes
Province
B.C. Pavilion Corp. chair David Padmore says he’s ‘very excited’ about the new roof for B.C. Place Stadium. Photograph by: Bill Keay, PNG, The Province
The giant marshmallow known as B.C. Place will soon have a new claim to fame.
Half a billion dollars and 17,000 tonnes of steel later, the Vancouver landmark will boast the world’s largest cable-supported retractable roof.
“[B. C. Place] has served us very, very well . . . and it can serve us very, very well in the years to come,” B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) chair David Podmore told a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon yesterday.
The $565-million project — $458 million for the roof alone — will be financed through a 40-year loan from the provincial government. PavCo is nearing completion on an agreement to lease out about 700,000 square feet of land around B.C. Place for development.
Along with revenue from new events, sponsorship and naming rights, Podmore said he is “absolutely satisfied” the loan will be repaid.
Since its official opening in 1983 by Queen Elizabeth, B.C. Place has hosted a number of famous people beneath the dome, including Pope John Paul II, Bill Clinton and David Beckham.
The iconic roof, now slightly yellowed, will finally be deflated in May, a few weeks after the annual Vancouver International Auto Show, said Podmore.
Over the following 18 months, B.C. Place will become a construction site as the Teflon-topped stadium is transformed by 35 kilometres of cable and 76,000 square metres of fabric. It will take 90 semi-trucks to transport the 1,100-tonne crane that will be used to raise the 36 masts to support the new retractable roof.
B.C. Place will open again in July 2011 with final completion slated in time for the Grey Cup in November 2011.
During construction, the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps will play in a temporary facility at Empire Fields, to be built in March at a cost of $14 million.
Podmore said he was “very excited” about the new roof, which will be built using “reliable, tested” technology, but on a larger scale than anywhere else in the world.
The centre portion of the white fabric roof will retreat into a central cone for storage, providing a 100-by-80 metre view of blue sky. The roof will take about 20 minutes to open, something that will be done before events at the discretion of planners.
B.C. Place staff also confirmed that problems with pooling water on the roof of the stadium late last week have been solved.
No damage was caused when rainwater began to run through one of the vents in the roof as workers set up for the Olympic Games opening ceremonies. Workers were able to adjust some of the weight to prevent the problem from recurring.
B.C. PLACE BY THE NUMBERS
– 27 million visitors since 1983;
– 200-210 events a year;
– 16 fans used to raise the roof the first time;
– One hour to inflate the roof the first time;
– 1983 opened by Queen Elizabeth;
– 60,000 seats;
– 1,100-tonne crane to be used to construct new roof;
– 17,000 tonnes of steel in new roof;
– 35 km of cable;
– 76,000 square metres of fabric;
– 40-50 years expected life of new roof.
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