Mayor
Jean Drapeau's first Horribly Bloated and Expensive Project (second being the
1976 Olympic Games), its purpose was to draw the attention of the international community upon the city of Montreal and tell the world what a modern city it had become. Following the Expo formulae, different countries were invited to build their own structures as to show off their technical prowess and then visitors from all over the world flocked in.
Memorable structures:
- The amazingly beautiful Pavillon de France became the Montreal Casino.
- The American-built Biosphere (big metal sphere) became an advertisement for Tropicana Orange Juice.
- The subway system is still functional.
- Amusement Park La Ronde has recently been acquired by Six Flags who may or may not stop its agonizing descent to Hell.
The project was so gigantic that it could not be built inside the city and required the construction of
Two Islands.
However, because most of the costs were covered by invited nations, its legacy is not as costly as the games of 76, which on its 25th anniversary we are still paying taxes for.