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The Big O
The stadium was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics
It was built in the mid-1970s as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics, and is nicknamed The Big O after its name and the doughnut shape of the permanent part of its roof. It is also called The Big Owe, for the cost.
The design
Roger Taillibert based the design on plant and animal forms
The French architect Roger Taillibert designed the stadium with a retractable roof, to be opened and closed by cables hung from a huge tower. The design is cited as a masterpiece of Organic Modern architecture.
The roof
The tower and roof were not completed until 1987
A construction strike cancelled the planned opening, and the stadium and tower stood unfinished at the 1976 Games. The roof materials waited in a warehouse in Marseille until 1982. The Kevlar roof could not be used in winds above 40 km/h.
88times the retractable roof was opened and closed
The bill
A tobacco tax paid for the stadium for more than 30 years
The Quebec government introduced a special tobacco tax in May 1976 to recoup its investment. The costs were finally paid in full in mid-November 2006, and the stadium has been dubbed The Big Owe for its cost.
The tower
The Montreal Tower is the world's tallest inclined tower
The Montreal Tower is built into the north base of the stadium. At 165 metres, it is the world's tallest inclined tower. An inclined elevator, opened in 1987, climbs 266 metres along its spine to an observatory.
165 metresheight of the Montreal Tower
Day 4, afternoon
It comes after Montreal Biodome. Then Quartier des Spectacles.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Olympic Stadium (Montreal), and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.