| Olympic Stadium has been one of the most criticized stadiums in recent years, and probably for good reason. When it was built for the 1976 Olympics, it was meant to be retractable, but apparently they ran out of money so didn't make it retractable until the early 1990's. And when the roof was finally retractable, they had numerous problems with it. Needless to say, the roof was never retractable in the same sense as Skydome's or Enron Field's. After playing some years with it on, and some with it off, Olympic Stadium is now permanently a dome. Besides the problems with the roof, other structural problems have surfaced in recent years. It is clear that Montreal needs a new park, but whether they will ever get one is very unclear. The park itself is really not a bad place to see a game. Unlike the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Olympic Stadium is at least configured properly for baseball. If it didn't have the roof and artificial turf, baseball fans would like this park a lot more. The concourse area features numerous concessions stands featuring a wide variety of food, though most of it is supplied by chain restaurants such as McDonalds. The main souvenir store is actually located outside the gates to the park, which is a bit odd since you can't access it once you are inside the park. My biggest problem with the park is its location, as there doesn't seem to be an easy way to access it. It is necessary to drive through the downtown which becomes a problem on the way out. Also, all the parking is in garages which makes getting out quickly a problem. Of course with the sparse crowds they have been drawing, this probably is not a major concern. This is one city that actually needed a new ballpark, but never got one and therefore lost their team to Washington DC in 2005. It is doubtful that Olympic Stadium will ever see professional baseball again, but hopefully a new minor league park will be built at some point as this is a city that loves baseball and deserves to have a professional team.
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