Olympic Park (Montreal)

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Aerial view of the Olympic Stadium

The Olympic Park ( French Parc olympique , English Olympic Park ) is a park-like area in Montreal with several important sports facilities. The main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics is around six kilometers north of the city center in the Arrondissement of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve . The Olympic Park is bordered by Rue Sherbrooke in the west, Boulevard Viau in the north, Avenue Pierre-de-Coubertin in the east and Boulevard Pie-IX in the south.

The most important building is the Olympic Stadium with the distinctive inclined tower 175 meters high and the water sports center integrated into it. Other buildings include the Biodôme de Montréal environmental museum (the former Olympic cycling track ), the Center Pierre-Charbonneau , the Aréna Maurice-Richard , the Stade Saputo and the StarCité multiplex cinema . The site is accessed by the Pie-IX and Viau underground stations . To the west of the Olympic Park are the Parc Maisonneuve and the Botanical Garden , to the north is the former Olympic Village .

In 1912, the then independent town of Maisonneuve acquired 204 hectares of land and had a park built on it. In the 1930s, a large part of it was converted into an 18-hole golf course and the botanical garden. An area development plan drafted in 1954 provided for the remaining 46 hectares in size on the eastern edge to be used for the construction of sports facilities. The Center sportif Maisonneuve (today's Center Pierre-Charbonneau) was opened three years later, followed by the Aréna Maurice Richard in 1962. In April 1973, construction began on the rest of the facilities for the 1976 Summer Olympics. The golf course had to be closed, and a 9-hole facility north of Rue Viau was built in 1977 to replace it. In 2007/08, the Stade Saputo football stadium was built on the former training ground on the northern edge of the Olympic Park.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official report of the 1976 Summer Olympics, Volume 2. (PDF, 20.2 MB) LA84 Foundation, 1976, pp. 34–38 , accessed on November 16, 2011 (French).
  2. ↑ La rue Sherbrooke et ses intersections: De la rue Fullum à la rue Viau. In: Les grandes rues de Montréal. City of Montreal, accessed November 16, 2011 (French).

Coordinates: 45 ° 33 '36.7 "  N , 73 ° 33' 4.7"  W.