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The Sad Saga Of Olympic Stadium

20 years ago today, a 55-ton concrete beam separated itself from Olympic Stadium in Montreal and came crashing down, fortunately injuring no one but leading engineers to condemn the building for a brief time.

Today, the stadium serves as an occasional home to the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes (during playoff games) but represents little else but a tax burden to the citizens of Quebec — even though the bill was finally paid in 2006, maintenance costs are through the roof. Despite this, there are as many voices fervently defending the stadium’s right to exist as there are demanding it be demolished. CBC discussed the future of Olympic Stadium on this unfortunate anniversary:

Intriguing is that the stadium is simultaneously so fragile yet solidly-built that it could not be imploded in the manner so many other old sports stadiums have been destroyed — especially when considering how easily its most famous tenant, the Expos, ceased to exist.

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Follow Timothy on Twitter at @bubbaprog.