Crews begin dismantling Olympic Stadium roof as $870-million project gets underway

Work on the Big O roof begins Workers have started the work needed to replace the roof of Montreal's Olympic Stadium, a project that costs $870 million.

Workers have started to dismantle the roof on Montreal's Olympic Stadium as the multimillion-dollar project gets underway.

Crews were on the roof Thursday to remove the white canvas, visible from the outside before they can begin dismantling the blue canvas on the inside.

In February, the Quebec government announced it planned to spend $870 million to replace the aging roof, which is covered in no less than 20,000 tears.

It proved to be a controversial decision, with critics wondering whether the money would be better spent on demolishing the structure and rebuilding it, instead of replacing the roof.

As the replacement work moves forward, cranes will also be brought in with gondolas carrying workers who will work on detaching parts of the roof, the Olympic Park said in a news release. A team of 10 workers will be responsible for retrieving the detached sections and folding them for storage.

That work will continue until Quebec's construction holiday and pick up again through the end of the summer.

The dismantling of the metal structure will take place in the fall.