John B. Marek is a storyteller with dirt under his nails who weaves tales inspired by a lifetime immersed in nature. His insightful essays and award-winning fiction delve into the complexities of sustainable living, the heart of rural communities and the thrill of outdoor adventure. You can find more of his writing at johnbmarek.com. He recently published a new short story titled “A Sliver of Moon” and you can read it for free here.
The recent Paris Summer Olympics were not without controversy, but for the most part the games went off without a hitch in finished venues and the cost did not threaten to bankrupt the city. The same could not be said of the Summer Games held 48 years ago in another French-speaking metropolis.
The mid-1970s marked a golden era for Montreal, Quebec, Canada, when the city emerged as a major world player. With a vibrant cultural scene, a thriving economy and a passionate sports fan base, Montreal was the place to be … until it wasn’t.
Montreal’s sports scene had long been a significant source of pride. The Montreal Alouettes, the city’s Canadian Football League team, captured the hearts of fans by winning the Grey Cup in 1974. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL’s most storied franchise, continued their dominance, winning the Stanley Cup four times between 1971 and 1979.
The city’s sports profile was further elevated by the arrival of Major League Baseball in 1969 with the expansion Montreal Expos. While the Expos didn’t win many games in the early years, they quickly became a beloved part of the city’s fabric.
The highlight of Montreal’s mid-70s era was the 1976 Summer Olympics. The games were a massive undertaking, showcasing the city’s beauty and culture to the world. However, the Olympics were also marred by significant problems that ultimately tarnished the progressive image the city was trying to project.
One of the most notable issues was the construction of Olympic Stadium, the centerpiece of the games. The stadium’s iconic retractable roof was not even close to ready, leading to criticism, embarrassment and a stub of the unfinished tower looming over one end of the oval venue throughout the Olympics.
The stadium roof was envisioned as a Kevlar “tent” that would retract into a 540-foot tower extending above the stadium at a 45-degree angle. It was a remarkable design, unlike anything built to that point, but it proved too tricky an engineering feat. The tower was not completed until nearly two decades after the Olympics, and even then it was only opened and closed a handful of times before being permanently locked in the closed position.
However, the partially completed stadium was just one of many issues. The ambitious plan for the Montreal Olympics resulted in significant cost overruns across the board, leaving a lasting financial burden on the city, the province and the country.
Montreal was saddled with a massive debt that took decades to repay. This debt significantly constrained the city’s budget and limited its ability to invest in other projects well into the 2000s. Further, to help offset the cost of the Olympics, the city raised taxes, which strained residents and businesses.
The provincial government of Quebec, on the hook for its share of the exploding costs, drained the province’s resources and negatively impacted its overall fiscal health.
The Olympic cost overruns and the unfinished stadium raised questions about Canada’s ability to manage large-scale projects and fueled skepticism about future bids to host major events. The Olympic debt continued to have ripple effects on the Canadian economy for many years as the government struggled to manage its fiscal deficit.
Despite the challenges of the 1976 Olympics, Montreal continued to thrive in the mid-70s. The city’s cultural scene flourished, with artists, musicians and writers making their mark on the world stage. The French-Canadian language and culture were celebrated and Montreal became a symbol of bilingualism and multiculturalism.
Its sports teams, however, would never quite recover from the Olympics debacle. While the completed Olympic Stadium remains a spectacular structure with a design that seems cutting edge almost 50 years later, it was poorly suited to its two intended long-term tenants, the Alouettes and the Expos.
Seating around 60,000, it was far too big for Canadian football, where most stadiums hold 30,000. So, even a good crowd by CFL standards would have barely filled half the cavernous venue. The Alouettes fell on hard times and folded in 1982. They were replaced by the Concordes, who only lasted three seasons. When football returned to Montreal in 1996, the new Alouettes notably chose to play at Molson Stadium, a college venue that seats 20,000.
While the size of the stadium was also a concern to the Expos, other factors doomed Montreal’s baseball team. Designed with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in mind, the seating was arranged with sight lines focused on the center of the stadium, or what was deep center field when set up for baseball. This made for uncomfortable viewing for many fans, especially in the outfield seats. The location of the stadium was also an issue. Montreal is a city of bridges and Olympic Stadium is across a particularly busy one from the central business district, making travel to midweek games a challenge. The team left for Washington, D.C., in 2005.
While the mid-70s remain the golden era in Montreal’s sporting history, there has been something of a resurgence over the past few years. The Alouettes won the 2023 Grey Cup, Canada’s “Super Bowl,” and the city has been mentioned as a candidate for Major League Baseball expansion, with proponents noting it is more populous than several big-league American cities such as Phoenix, San Diego, Minneapolis, Baltimore and Detroit. With the ill-fated Olympics and Expos experiment distant memories, the city’s passion for sports and its ability to host world-class events suggest that another golden era could be on the horizon.