Ready to Raise the Torch

After three years of administrative hassles, labor troubles and ballooning costs, construction of the sprawling facilities for the games of the XXI Olympiad in Canada neared completion last week. The sun came out over Montreal following two weeks of cold and damp weather, allowing workmen to lay down the red tartan artificial surface in the stadium's eight-lane track. That took care of the last major project, though many odds and ends remain to be tied up before the lighting of the Olympic torch opens the 16 days of games on July 17.

About 10% of the 53,854 royal blue and egg-yolk yellow molded plastic seats around the stadium have yet to be installed. Another 5,415 temporary seats will be added, plus space cleared for 14,000 standees, but plans to air-condition the structure fell early victim to lagging work schedules. Though the stadium has an open top, it is designed so that no wind blows on the field--ideal for the record books but not the runners and spectators. July heat could cause "the climate on the field to resemble the threshold of hell," says Larry Eldridge, athletics coordinator for the organizing committee.

Slowdowns by electricians and plumbers threaten completion on time of various support systems, but none are serious enough to hold up any event. Sophisticated scoring and timing devices, for instance, have yet to be wired, as have the lights bordering the walkways into the stadium. But, says Olympic Park Boss Adrien Berthiaume, "if we have to run this thing like a country fair, then that's what we'll do. The world won't come to an end."

Nor is there any chance that anyone would mistake Montreal's Olympic facilities for a country fair. The 27 major installations, all now ready, include Swimming Hall, which features a main 50-meter pool and a separate diving well with a 10-meter board and its own elevator; the Velodrome, a 7,200-seat banked (48DEG on the curves) oval for cycling races; Desmarteau Center, a 4,500-seat basketball arena; the Robillard Center, a 3,600-seat general sports area with a pool and a handball court; a spacious equestrian area complete with jump course; and a sailing center with five precast concrete piers and enough facilities to handle the expected 145 entries.

The two 18-story pyramid structures that make up Olympic Village are ready to house an expected 10,500 athletes during the competition. Makeshift living modules have been set up on the ground floors to accommodate 1,300 athletes, with the rest scheduled to share the two buildings' 980 comfortably furnished apartments, ranging in size from one to six bedrooms. An 800-meter underground tunnel leads directly from the village to the stadium, both a convenience and a security measure.

The Olympic facilities originally were expected to cost Montrealers $310 million; the last anyone counted, the price tag was up to $1.5 billion. An investigation has already been threatened by Quebec's Premier Robert Bourassa to find out the causes of the bloated bill after the Games are over. Figuring out how to pay all those unexpected chits has been deferred until after the flags come down.

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