{"id":4703,"date":"2026-05-11T09:57:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/?post_type=csat-story-chapter&#038;p=4703"},"modified":"2026-06-18T12:37:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:37:36","slug":"preparing-for-the-games","status":"publish","type":"csat-story-chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/en\/story\/preparing-for-the-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for the Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div class=\"csat-block wp-block-csat-blocks-rich-text no-parent csat-block width_layout_contained\">\t\t\t<div class=\"inner-content\">\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-csat-blocks-block-rich-text\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once Montreal had been awarded the Games, the city formed the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (known by its French acronym, COJO). This organization was in charge of selecting the competition sites, ensuring that everything ran smoothly, accommodating the athletes and putting together a program of cultural events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main Olympic sites were built in <strong>Montreal&rsquo;s east end<\/strong>. For Mayor Drapeau, it was a strategic\u202fchoice: many French-speaking residents lived in this less wealthy area, and he wanted Olympic spending to stimulate its development and help revitalize it. He believed that the Games were much more than a sporting event and could transform the neighbourhood and improve the lives of its inhabitants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-block-csat-media-element no-parent csat-block width_contained alignment_centered\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"inner-container\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"media-element image-container\" data-image-width=\"1000\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"image-frame launch-media-modal media-thumbnail type-image media-element-1616\"\n\t\t\t\t   href=\"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/en\/gallery\/hochelaga-maisonneuve\/\"\n\t\t\t\t   data-media-element=\"1616\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">D\u00e9tails de l&rsquo;image &mdash;  <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"781\" src=\"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"In black and white, an aerial view shows the vast site next to the dome-roofed Maurice Richard Arena where the Olympic Stadium will be built.\" loading=\"eager\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-768x600.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-500x391.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-512x400.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-294x230.jpg 294w, https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/183\/2026\/01\/m202095114175-20260112-p2-ra-1000px-679x530.jpg 679w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"caption-container\">View of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, 1972<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"csat-block wp-block-csat-blocks-rich-text no-parent csat-block width_layout_contained\">\t\t\t<div class=\"inner-content\">\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-csat-blocks-block-rich-text\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>However, not everyone agreed with his vision. Many Montrealers were opposed to the idea because it meant destroying a large green space near the Botanical Garden, which included a very popular golf course. Citizens mobilized to express their objections. In the end, part of the golf course was preserved, but half of its original acreage was used to build the Olympic Village to house the athletes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":4704,"template":"","class_list":["post-4703","csat-story-chapter","type-csat-story-chapter","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":4703,"fr":438},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/4703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/csat-story-chapter"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/4703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6242,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/4703\/revisions\/6242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/olympiques-montreal-1976-olympics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}