British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, left, and B.C. Lions' Angus Reid take part in a ribbon cutting to officially open the renovated B.C. Place stadium before the Lions played the Edmonton Eskimos in a CFL football game in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday September 30, 2011. The stadium was closed for 18-months to undergo a $563-million renovation which included a new retractable fabric roof. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckDarryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
Construction workers, professional athletes and provincial politicians have cut the ribbon to open the newly revitalized BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Tens of thousands of football fans eager to see the first game in the facility between the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Eskimos then flooded through the doors and into the 55,000 spectator stadium.
Premier Christy Clark said the revitalized BC Place is a magnificent building that British Columbians can be proud of.
Pat Bell, B.C.'s Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister, called it a world-class facility.
The stadium houses the second-largest, centre-hung video screen in North America and all-weather turf.
The total cost of the renovations was $563-million.