Leisure: Montreal costs soared as athletes' village stood empty
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The 1976 Olympics in Montreal were a financial fiasco, leaving behind $1bn in debt. Billed as "the modest games" by the mayor of Montreal, they quadrupled in cost in the four years of preparation from an initial estimate of $350m to $1.4bn.
It could have been worse. After the Games were over, a huge crane still rose over the Olympic Stadium, a reminder that construction on the complex had never been completed. In fact, the Olympic Installations Board had recommended six months before the Games were due that the chances of the stadium being finished on time were only 20 per cent.
They recommended to the government that construction should stop, that they should make do with the sports facilities already available. But building went ahead because half the contracts had already been signed and there was no going back. The stadium might have turned out to be something of an embarrassment but the Olympic Village was a disaster. Plans to rent out the facilities as homes came to nothing because of high cost, unattractive location and zero demand.
On the other hand, Montrealers turned out in huge numbers to attend the competitions and in surveys afterwards most declared themselves proud and happy that their city had staged the event.
As the mayor observed at the time, and without exaggeration: "Whatever the moral and financial costs, regardless of all the incidents and handicaps, the putting of questions and the raising of questions, it was worth it. No matter the difficulties, I would do it again."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments