London's Olympic Park is a new sporting complex currently under construction in Stratford in East London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. It will be located at grid reference TQ379849.
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Design and construction
The Park is being designed by the EDAW Consortium (including EDAW and Buro Happold), working with Arup and Atkins, and is scheduled for completion by 2011.
London's Olympic bid proposed that there would be four arenas in the Olympic Park, but the revised masterplan published in 2006 reduced this to three, with the volleyball being moved to Earls Court Exhibition Centre.[1] The fencing arena was also cancelled, and the fencing will now take place at ExCeL. The remaining indoor arena are the Basketball Arena and the Handball Arena. The final design of the park has been approved by the Olympic Delivery Authority and its planning decisions committee.
To enable the major phase of construction to begin, the 52 electricity pylons, each up to 65 metres high, that dominate the landscape in and around the Olympic Park are being removed. The necessary tunnels have been completed to permit putting the cables underground.
Several businesses were put under Compulsory Purchase Order in order to gain control of the Olympic Site. One notable business was Forman and Field, producers of gourmet food, who relocated to Fish Island, on the opposite bank of the River Lea.
Sports venues
There will also be an Olympic Village to house the athletes.
Legacy
The Olympic Park will be put to a number of uses after the Olympics have finished:[2][3]
- Olympic Park will be transformed into one of the largest urban parks created in Europe for more than 150 years, designed to enrich the local ecology, by restoring wetland habitats and planting native species.
- A new university will be founded to make use of the sporting facilities and high-tech communications infrastructure remaining after the Olympics, and will specialise in sport science, digital media and green technology.
- The sports facilities will be made open for use by local sports clubs and societies.
- The Olympic Village will be converted into 3,600 apartments in the Stratford City development.
- The Manor Garden Allotments will be reinstated.
- Further housing as well as amenities will be constructed.
- The Park will be named Elizabeth Park, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.[4]
References
- ^ BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Olympics 2012 | London unveils Olympic masterplan
- ^ http://www.london2012.com/plans/olympic-park/legacy/index.php
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article6126765.ece
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/6468759/2012-Olympics-site-to-be-named-Elizabeth-Park.html
External links
- Official website
- Independent website
- Review of Olympic Park development
- London Landscape TV episode (5 mins) showing Olympic Park development (August 2008)
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Coordinates: 51°32′46″N 0°00′46″W / 51.54615°N 0.01269°W
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