Rink Roof Takes Flight

A large section of the roof of an ice rink blew off in Montreal, Quebec, Aug. 28.

Maurice Richard Arena, home to Canada’s national short-track speedskating team, is adjacent to Olympic Stadium.

The 4,750-capacity facility opened in the early ’60s and was a venue for events at the 1976 Olympics. It has hosted junior hockey for decades.

A section of the roof about 30 yards long and 20 yards wide blew off of the top of the building, according to the fire department, which recevied calls that slabs of tar paper were swirling through the neighborhood, according to the Montreal Gazette. The roof is under renovation.

Fire department personnel arrived around 7 p.m., just in time to see a gust of wind lift the domed roof off its mooring.

“They saw it separate from the roof and come crashing down,” department operations chief Sylvain Cuillerier told the paper. Some of it landed in nearby trees but a large piece hung off the side of the building and threatened to collapse it.

Preliminary findings suggest the structure is still sound.

Neighbors took to Twitter, noting that the Olympic Stadium has several rips in its roof, according to the Gazette.

There were no injuries and a city municipal officer blamed it on a “wind that seems to have been extraordinary both in terms of speed and direction.”

About 60 percent of the exterior roof membrane had been removed in the past two weeks, according to the paper. The $3 million repair is part of a $5.7 million project to renovate the exterior of the Olympic Park exterior envelope. The circular dome was erected in 1958, and it will be replaced with a stainless-steel covering.

The arena, which has free entrance and a multimedia exhibit dedicated to the Montreal Canadiens, hosts corporate events and has banquet seating up to 2,000.