The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games issued a statement Friday indicating they were not worried over the collapse Friday of the inflatable fabric roof of Vancouver’s downtown sports stadium, BC Place, scheduled to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Games.
Vancouver 2010 officials said they have every confidence in the ability of their engineers to rectify the situation.
Officials at BC Place Stadium said the incident would not hamper its availability for the Olympics as the roof could be repaired quickly.
Reuters reports witnesses saying a large section of the fabric roof, held up by air pressure, appeared to have ripped open shortly before the roof deflated onto the playing field below.
The city was being hit with a rain and snowstorm when the collapse occurred. The roof is made up of 10.25 acres of Teflon-coated fibreglass fabric, which BC Place says is the world’s larges air-supported domed stadium.
A replacement for the torn fabric panel has already been ordered but stadium general manager Howard Crosley told reporters, “we don’t know how long it will take to repair, but we anticipate it will be in short order”.
Crosley said the roof had been inspected within the past year and was in good shape.
