As Montreal reflects back on the 1976 Olympics, held 50 years ago this summer, one enormous hunk of the Games’ legacy continues to generate headlines — and punchlines — over its legendary flaws and money-sucking voracity.

Yes, the Olympic Stadium is the (white) elephant in the room.

Its ballooning costs gave it one of its many nicknames: the Big Owe. The cavernous concrete structure has been a money pit many Montrealers love to hate.

It has also been a lemon. The initial retractable roof wasn’t installed until more than a decade after the Games closed and never worked properly. It was so ill-suited to Montreal’s winter climate that it had to be replaced in 1998.

The second suspended Kevlar roof was so prone to tearing, even the slightest buildup of ice and snow posed a safety hazard — and prompted embarrassing emergency closures during major events.

So despite being such an iconic landmark, the Big O has often been an empty shell, especially after the Montreal Expos decamped in 2004.

A little over two years ago, the Quebec government faced a Faustian choice: Spend even more money to repair the Olympic Stadium, or pay an even higher price to knock it down.

Tearing it down would have been complex and cost-prohibitive, and would have left an........

© Montreal Gazette