B.C. Place roof repairs underway

Officials at B.C. Place say repairs to the stadium's damaged roof are going well, andthey hope to reinflate the massive Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric bubble within a week.

A huge tear caused the roof to deflate on Friday. Threetears developed during Friday night's windstorm.

A replacement panel has been ordered and was due to arrive on Monday. But the shipment was delayed in the U.S. and the panelhasn't arrived.

B.C. Place general manager Howard Crosley said Monday that once it arrives, it will belifted into placeby a massive crane that has been erected at the southwest corner of the stadium.

He also said they still don't know what caused the original problem with the roof that tore during a windy, snowy day.

"We still have no idea what caused the rip at this point. We aren't blaming the weather. We are still waiting for the engineers' report as to what caused the tear."

Human error and negligence have not been ruled out and officials have been talking to their insurer.

But the B.C. government could end up paying the bill as the stadium is owned by the provincial government.

Vancouver faces more strong winds and possibly more snow this week as repair crews continue their work.But Crosley said they areready.

"We have it all sandbagged in the building. We are collecting the water in our drainage system inside the building and we have two pumper trucks at each end of the building that will take the water and pump it out as necessary. "

He also saidthe rain of the past few days has not harmed the stadium's artificial turf orthe huge replay screen.

B.C. Place Stadium, which is 24 years old,was the world's largest air-supported domed stadium. The 60,000-seat facility is home to the B.C. Lions football club and is slated to host the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics.