The world’s largest Teflon-coated, woven fibreglass roof is inflated for the first time.
A pet project of former Socred premier Bill Bennett that initially earned the project the nickname “Bennett’s Bubble,” the $163.5 million stadium was built to replace Empire Stadium and be a marquee part of Expo 86.
Covering 10 acres in total, with a circumference of 760 metres (2,500 feet), the roof was held aloft by air pumped by 16 giant fans.
It officially opened to the public June 19, 1983, and more than 60,000 spectators came out the following day to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 in a North American Soccer League game.
The stadium received a new retractable roof completed in 2011 at a cost of more than half a billion dollars.
