MONTREAL - Heavy winds stripped off a large section of the Maurice Richard Arena's roof in Montreal's east end at around 7:00 p.m. Thursday.
About 45 firefighters were sent to the scene, including a team specializing in structures and police erected a security perimeter at the corner of Viau and Pierre-de-Coubertin.
Montreal fire Chief Sylvain Cuillerier said that part of the roof structure, around 30 meters by 20 meters, was blown off in the stiff breeze. Service was discontinued at the Viau metro station on the green line, which sits a few dozen meters from the arena and the station will remain closed until the area is deemed secured, probably sometime Friday afternoon.
Sections of Pierre de Coubertin and Viau were closed to traffic. The City of Montreal has asked an architectural firm doing work on the arena to show them their plans and work in hopes it will help with a report on the event.
Ironically, the incident could actually accelerate the ongoing repairs to the structure.
City of Montreal real estate expert Michel Nadeau said that the ongoing renovations had complied with all safety norms.
The Maurice Richard Arena sits just to the east of the Olympic Stadium and adjacent to Saputo Stadium. It was opened in 1962 and has a capacity of 4,750 seats.
It hosted Olympic boxing matches in 1976 and was renovated in 1994 to accommodate the Canadian short track speed skating team.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
