Olympic Park Handover Officially Underway
The transformation of the Olympic Park officially begun on Tuesday as the temporary seats installed at the Aquatics Centre for London 2012 were stripped away – marking the start of the £292 million operation.
The Park was handed over by London 2012 organisers to the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), the body now in charge of managing the site.
The Riverbank Arena, which hosted hockey during the Olympics and football during the Paralympics, has already been dismantled, along with the water pole venue and the Basketball Arena, the stands used for the BMX in the VeloPark and the controversial Dow Chemical-sponsored wrap around the Olympic Stadium.
The reconstruction programme, called Clear, Connect, Complete, is due to see the Park reopen in stages from next July, which will also mark the first anniversary of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.
A neighbourhood of about 850 homes will be built where the temporary Basketball Arena once stood, with 70% of the households intended to be family homes of three bedrooms or more.
Taylor Wimpey and London and Quadrant will begin building the Park’s first neighbourhood in autumn 2013.
The entire Park is due to open by spring 2014, although LLDC chief executive Dennis Hone admitted the work required in order to convert the Olympic Stadium – which still has to find a tenant – means it may not reopen until August 2015 at the earliest.
Changes needed across the Park include reworking nearly 10km of road network, put in place for the Games, along with 30 bridges and underpasses to create new footways and cycle paths.
Meanwhile, a 1.6km outdoor road cycle circuit which will cross the River Lea will be added to help form the Lee Valley VeloPark.
The Copper Box, which hosted handball during the Olympics and goalball during the Paralympics, will look the same from the outside when the park reopens, but inside it will be turned into a public leisure centre, capable of hosting community sports, competitions, cultural and business events, with a capacity of around 7,500.
