An iconic Vancouver landmark is getting a refresh while tackling its biggest events yet.
Vancouver-based ETRO Construction has secured a contract for BC Place upgrades which will take place before and during huge events such as Taylor Swift’s three concerts in December, culminating in FIFA World Cup 2026 celebrations and matches.
“The project consists of 11 projects, most of which are on the interior of the building. Everything from dressing rooms to new field-side clubs, new conference spaces and VIO areas, vertical transportation…really functional stuff that will be valuable to the facility for years to come,” ETRO president Mike Maierle said.
“In lots of these areas there’s a washroom shortage, a food and beverage shortage, there’s no conference and conventions spaces really that they can use right now, so this is really turning the page on how we can utilize BC Place in the future.”
To get the job done, he said, significant structural work has to be carried out and adjacent to ETRO’s current work is a new field, pitch and scoreboard.
“We’re removing existing grandstand sections completely, flattening them out and putting a new centre tunnel so that the players can walk out to the centre pitch,” he said. “Each individual project, while not significant as a whole, is (significant) and the challenge is that these 11 projects are each broken into multi-phases, some elements to be finished before the Grey Cup (in mid-November), and elements to finish before Taylor Swift.”
The work will be done while BC Place is open and operational, Maierle aid, which requires extensive planning for each project ahead of time.
“The project is really all about logistics, pre-planning, and off-site construction. We’re given really short windows to do significant work in order to keep not only the facility operational but the public safe through the process,” Maierle said.
“When we pursued the project, I believe that’s why we won. We really thought through how to execute multiple projects in multiple phases with multiple trades and packages in a way to minimize end-use impact.
“A lot of our work has been in operational facilities like airports, shopping centres or universities…a lot of what we do is very public and user adjacent.”
Movement within one job to the next in a large and vertical project like BC Place can be time-consuming, he said, “so how we move and how we look at it as a manufacturing project and (in terms of) material and people movement is significant to mitigate waste and truly be efficient in execution.”
Maierle said the job has to be complete before FIFA arrives in the summer of 2026 to host the World Cup.
“We have to be done in May 2026 and then FIFA comes in takes over a month in advance to make their preparations,” he said.
The new facilities will match the standard of other facilities that have hosted the World Cup and similar calibre events, he said.
“The new dressing rooms will be world-class and will meet FIFA requirements and one of the coolest parts (of the upgrades) is the field-side clubs where you’ll be able to rent a box pitch-side similar to SOFI Stadium (in Inglewod, Calf.) or some other of the newer, more modern stadiums,” Maierle said.
“There’s lots of events that BC Place can’t take on because they don’t have convention space or the food and beverage requirements,” he said. “They don’t have those Teir 1 facilities right now because it’s a public institutional facility and was built that way. This really elevates it with areas that will be usable and rentable.”
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