WATCH: Olympic Park CEO, David Heurtel and skateboarder Marc Tison talk about “The Big O”
MONTREAL – It’s not every day that a culture known for its anti-establishment and anarchic sensibility works in harmony with a big, mainstream corporation.
But this is what happened in Montreal this year, as a group of skateboarders and Joey Saputo, a Canadian businessman and the president of the Montreal Impact, came together to move an underground skateboarding monument.
“The Big O” is a large cement structure that was originally designed as a tunnel that connected Centre Pierre Charbonneau to an outdoor training park, which is now Saputo Stadium.
Soon after its construction, the tunnel became a skate spot for local skateboarders, and is now known worldwide.
Recent plans for the expansion of the stadium forced Joey Saputo to make a decision: either destroy the tunnel or pay for it to be moved. He chose the latter.
In a show of good faith, Saputo shelled out $63,000 to have “The Big O” moved about 200 feet.
He considered it a small price to pay to keep a respectful relationship intact.
Who would’ve thought that an organization associated with a game like soccer would one day have a relationship of value with a bunch of skateboarders?
There will be an event for the launch of “The New Big O” this Sunday, kicking of at noon at Olympia Park.
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