Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by redis_mlc | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

redis_mlc

Other notable architectural icons:

- Montreal Olympic Stadium (1976) - one-ton concrete chunks fell down, bonds paid off in 2008.

- Velodrome - one of the most useful Olympic buildings, and best velodrome in the world, converted to zoo in 1989.

- Toronto Harbor Sq. "greenhouse" waterfront condos - grim walk in winter, but went from $50,000 each to $1 million.

- CN Tower - too rugged to tear down in heart of Toronto, savior was emerging need for a giant cell phone tower. :)

View on HN

The "zoo" as you call it, is known as the Biodome. My kids love it.

Recently renovated, too.

I found it underwhelming for the admission price. The habitats are not very large and the entire complex isn't very large either. There's just not that much to see compared to similarly priced famous exhibitions (say San Diego Zoo, NY Botanical Garden, etc.). I understand it's a little different from a traditional zoo, but I wouldn't make a stop if I were just a tourist. There are better things to see in Montreal if you have a limited amount of time.* It's just not that biologically diverse and very expensive per square meter of viewing space.

*For perspective, I go to Montreal multiple times a year for decades now, and I only went to the biodome once as an adult. If I lived there, I would probably take my kids.

It's not really a zoo per-se. It's closer to a permanent exhibition recreating major ecosystems, w/ live animals.

Gotta disagree with the pricing thing though. A quick Google search tells me San Diego zoo is about USD$60/day. NY Botanical Garden is USD$22 (~CAD$28) for the day. The Biodome is CAD$21 (~USD$16.50).

You're right about the prices. My bad. I was at these other things quite a few years ago and either remembered wrong or the prices have gone up. It is significantly cheaper today. I stand by that if you're a tourist with a limited amount of time in Montreal it's not a top 10 destination.

Oh, indeed. It's nothing incredible. Kids love it, but it's definitely small. It's still a converted velodrome, after all. Its proximity with the Botanical Garden and Planetarium are nice though, and those two I really like.

I've been to the velodrome zoo. Its actually a really nicely laid out zoo. Can be a bit crowded though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com