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Olympic stadium leak 'appeared like a waterfall'

Cypress Mountain isn’t the only Olympic venue where rain wreaked havoc with VANOC last week. A large quantity of water cascaded through drainage holes on B.C. Place Stadium’s roof and crashed to the floor around 8 p.m. Thursday night.

A panel of the air-supported fabric roof inverted when water accumulated during a rainstorm.

The roof is under stress from the weight of light and speaker trusses hung for the 2010 Winter Olympics’ Feb. 12 opening ceremony.

“It appeared like a waterfall,” said a source who declined to be named.

VANOC, stadium management and roof maintenance contractor Riggit Services met Friday.

A third person was added to Riggit’s crew, which is on-call around the clock at the Olympic ceremonies stadium.

VANOC and stadium officials did not respond to interview requests on Sunday.

“I can’t comment on that,” said Riggit president Rick Smith. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve got contracts, I can’t speak to any reporters.”

A tent and blue hoses were visible on the roof Sunday.

Last Wednesday, VANOC closed snowboarding and freestyle skiing venue Cypress because rain and high temperatures wiped snow off the slopes.

Bob Mackin reports for Vancouver 24 hours.


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