  B.C. Place's new roof, to be completed for the 2011 Grey Cup, may open in winter if the stadium lands a big hockey game. (QMI Agency/Carmine Marinelli) |
VANCOUVER -- When it's finished next year, B.C. Place Stadium's retractable roof will be sealed for winter and it will withstand snow loads, according to B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore.
The former air-supported fabric roof of the stadium ripped and collapsed under heavy, wet snow in early January 2007.
The new roof, to be completed for November 2011's Grey Cup, may open in winter if the stadium lands a big hockey game.
PavCo CEO Warren Buckley said the Crown corporation has talked to the Vancouver Canucks about bidding for the National Hockey League's Heritage Classic. The 2011 game is next February in Calgary. The first opportunity for Vancouver to host would be in 2013, he said.
"It's up to them to talk to the NHL, it's only the Canucks that can make that approach," Buckley said.
Meanwhile, PavCo has hired VANOC director and World Olympians Association vice-president Charmaine Crooks to lobby international sport federations and associations to host events at B.C. Place.
