Montreal’s Big O is Relocated

Posted by bk - November 28th, 2011 1:50 am

Tout
This past Friday morning, November 25th Montreal’s Impact and Broccolini Construction Inc. have successfully moved the Big-O, as part of an entire expansion project for the city’s soccer-specific stadium. The 175-ton concrete structure known as the Big-O is a historic monument that was built in 1976 for the Montreal Olympic Games. Over the past three decades it has become a renowned skatespot for the international skateboarding community.

“We understood when we first build the stadium that the Big-O was a huge deal to the skateboarders,” said Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo. “When we decided to expand the stadium, we had no choice but to put a big column in its location. We needed to move it to save it. Everyone in the project was pretty confident it could be done.”

“We put in a call to a company that specializes in relocating entire homes structures, Déplacements Grenier, as this wasn’t just a simple block of concrete that had to be moved,” explained the construction superintendent Stéphane Tardif. “The Big-O is cracked in some places, so we had to monitor that throughout the move.”

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to save this structure and at the same time maintain a good relationship with the skateboarding community,” concluded Joey Saputo.

Surely, this wouldn’t happen in America. Hats off to you Montreal!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2011 at 1:50 am and is filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

12 Responses to “Montreal’s Big O is Relocated”

  1. Vote -1 Vote +1jack     - November 28th, 2011 at 10:09 am    

    canada = utopia

  2. +1 Vote -1 Vote +1Scotty     - November 28th, 2011 at 10:19 am    

    Astonishing. Good for them! See, soccer folks understand skateboarders better than any other of the big sports.

  3. +1 Vote -1 Vote +1Stickins lame     - November 28th, 2011 at 12:13 pm    

    good Job Montreal. Can’t wait to loop it…..again

  4. +2 Vote -1 Vote +1heterostrate     - November 28th, 2011 at 2:47 pm    

    this almost brings tears to my eyes. so rad.

  5. +3 Vote -1 Vote +1Conahan     - November 28th, 2011 at 3:10 pm    

    Take it on tour!

  6. +1 Vote -1 Vote +1gummo     - November 28th, 2011 at 3:32 pm    

    go canada! if it was in the us, they would have blew it up with explosives while all the skaters watched. that is great!

  7. Vote -1 Vote +1Jon Worona     - November 28th, 2011 at 10:43 pm    

    Canuks Rule!

  8. Vote -1 Vote +1JoelM     - November 29th, 2011 at 7:23 am    

    The US politicians should learn a bit from their neighbors

  9. Vote -1 Vote +1Drew     - November 29th, 2011 at 7:28 am    

    I was thinking the last line since the first sentence.

    Rad news from the North!

  10. Vote -1 Vote +1Nacho     - November 30th, 2011 at 11:04 am    

    Believe me, things like this don’t just happen in Canada like this everyday. I live in Halifax, NS and the cops give skaters helmet tickets on the daily.

  11. Vote -1 Vote +1Sam Belliveau     - November 30th, 2011 at 12:32 pm    

    So sick!!!!!! Good for mtl and the skate scene!!!!!

  12. Vote -1 Vote +1marsh     - January 19th, 2012 at 10:40 pm    

    save the turf!!!

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