When the Whitecaps took to the field at BC Place stadium Saturday John Bielher was excited to sit with his superfan group the Southsiders in their own section.
“We came down the steps and the first thing we saw is a giant garbage can sitting on that seat which was at the end of the row we were sitting at,” said Bielher.
The garbage can was filled with water because the stadium roof was leaking and one fan in particular was getting soaked.
Stadium officials offered the man another dry seat but elected to stay seated with his friends in the Southsiders while water dripped on his head.
“He did fashion a little hat out of the blue piece of plastic on that was on everyone’s seat and the staff brought beers for all of us that were in the proximity of the dripping,” Bielher said.
This isn't the first time the retractable roof has sprung a leak. In 2011, just weeks after the $560 million renovation to the stadium roof was complete and the day before the stadium was set to host 99th grey cup, water dripped onto the field.
Crews could be seen on the roof outside, using rolls of what looked like white tape to hastily patch the roof.
BC Place will be hosting the Grey Cup again this November.
“There's still a couple of months to make sure this isn't a chronic problem,” said sports business commentator Tom Mayenknecht. “That’s the worst thing, people start thinking of the leaky condo epidemic. You don’t want a leaky stadium epidemic that becomes part of the brand of BC Place.”
Pavco the crown corporation that owns and operates the stadium didn't respond to our messages.
“For that much of an expensive roof overhaul it shouldn't be leaking at all especially during a big game that the Whitecaps had,” said Bielher.
But the Southsiders didn’t let the leak dampen their spirits. They used the trophy awarded to the best team in the Pacific Northwest, the Cascadia Cup, to catch the water.
With files from CTV’s Shannon Paterson
