VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The stadium that will hold the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics is adequate for the job -- despite plans to replace its aging roof shortly after the Games are over, officials said on Friday.

The provincial government unveiled plans to replace the fabric cover on BC Place Stadium in Vancouver with a retractable roof, but said it was unrealistic to try to complete the project in time for the Olympics.

"That would be rushing it," said David Podmore, chairman of the provincial corporation that owns the facility -- saying the goal is to have the project completed by early 2011.

"As far as for 2010, we are completely satisfied that this existing system and the building will function very very well," Podmore told an announcement ceremony at BC Place.

When Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Games by the International Olympic Committee in 2003, the Western Canadian city had to overcome concerns about being the first Winter Olympics host to hold opening and closing ceremonies indoors.

The mountains around Vancouver receive heavy snow in the winter, but the moisture almost always falls as rain in the sea-level city, making it preferable to hold the major ceremonies under cover.

Officials began looking at replacing the air-supported roof after a January 2007 storm caused it to collapse like an imploding souffle into the 60,000-seat facility. It took crews about two weeks to re-inflate the fabric.

Premier Gordon Campbell defended keeping the current roof through the Games, saying related work to upgrade the inside of the stadium will be completed before then.

"It doesn't take anything away from the Olympics," he said. "(Replacing the roof) is not about the Olympics."

VANCOUVER EYES MAJOR SOCCER FRANCHISE

The retractable roof, to be modeled on a design now used in Frankfurt, Germany, is part of a larger overhaul of BC Place that Vancouver hopes will land the city a Major League Soccer franchise, officials said.

The downtown facility opened in 1983 and is now primarily used by the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League and for concerts and trade conventions. The facility has also been used in the past for baseball.

Podmore said officials looked at replacing the entire facility, but decided that would be too costly and not make sense environmentally since the current stadium was usable.

The exact cost of the new roof and upgrades to the facility has not been determined, but officials said the upgrades could be paid for through the stadium's current revenue sources and by selling adjacent development space.

Replacing the current roof will reduce the stadium's annual energy costs by about C$500,000 because it will not need the large air pumps that now keep the fabric roof inflated.

(Editing by Rob Wilson)

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