Keep a lid on it

Last week, this page had a prime vantage point as the elements ripped BC Place a new one. The mediocy that followed made mountains out of deflated molehills, with questions being asked about the viability of the stadium for the 2010 Olympics, or the "vital" trade show scheduled in a couple of weeks. For those of you scoring at home (and the talking heads who spat out that piece of hysteria), it's the Contractors Exhibition that's supposed to be taking place, and I'm sure if the roof hasn't been fixed by then, a few of those delegates might want to give it a go.

My favourite hole in her logic to match the hole in the roof came from CBC Vancouver's Mi-Young Lee, who reported that "a lot of people feel the stadium should be torn down and condos be built". At press time, this page could not identify whether or not "a lot of people" refers to Lee's CBC bosses, who sold part of their parking lot for the TV Towers development going up on Robson Street, or just herself (and maybe her friends) who aren't making enough to buy that much-wanted Yaletown address developers keep telling 20-something Vancouverites they can't live without.

BC Place Stadium should not be torn down. Since the Plaza of Nations was turned over to the underwhelmingly popular Edgewater Casino, the stadium is one of the few remaining outposts of public space in an increasingly privatized and segregated city. Similar mishaps have occurred with domed stadiums in Minnesota, Indianapolis, and Detroit: all were built around the same time and all are still in use today. The building's primary tenants, The BC Lions, are happy playing there and aren't screaming for something better. Greg Kerfoot's proposed waterfront stadium hasn't progressed much past a chimera to hypnotize Whitecaps season ticket holders, and it won't be big enough for football, trade shows, or really big rock concerts. BC Place is our stadium, we paid for it, and we won't be suckered into bulldozing just because it needs a patch or two.