Put a lid on it.

No, not a new roof for BC Place, but any last minute spending on a new roof for BC Place. If there's anything that is souring a growing number of Vancouverites on the 2010 Winter Olympics, it's the plethora of 11th hour projects which absolutely, positively have to be done before the Olympic Torch makes its way to the shores of False Creek that were never part of the original Olympic bid. It appears that much of PavCo's rationale for the last minute top-popping is the time tested engineering principle of 'wouldn't it be nice', i.e. to be able to shoot off fireworks at the Games' Opening and Closing and Ceremonies. As the Celebration of Fight...er...Light teaches us every summer, Vancouverites will endure any inconvenience, hardship, or threat to their personal safety for a few minutes of going 'ooooh' and 'aaaah' at all the pretty festive munitions, priorities be damned.

BC Place is not worth the investment, certainly not just for a couple of fireworks shows for the people lucky to have tickets to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It is definitely not worth it while Greg Kerfoot waits in the wings to build a new waterfront stadium with his own money to vault his Vancouver Whitecaps into Major League Soccer. The dome is an outdated, overheated, uncomfortable acoustic nightmare which over the past few years has benefited no one but the defensive line of the B.C. Lions, and PavCo wants us to pay even more for it. Any new roof built on such a short timeline will require at least a minimal retrofit of the stadium, which will be performed by contractors at overheated pre-2010 rates.

If BC Place were demolished after the Olympics rather than needlessly dressed up before, the value of the real estate on which it sits would pay for thousands of units of social housing. Unfortunately, the psychotic rush to create the picture postcard perfect Olympic experience will leave Vancouver with only thousands of 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' drifting into the night air for a couple of nights in February 2010.