September Deadline For Olympic Stadium Bidders

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has laid down a deadline of the end of September to receive fully detailed bids from companies wishing to take over the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games are over.

Having received 150 expressions of interest in the £547m venue in May, the Olympic Park Legacy Company now wants to see firm proposals from those individuals and companies keen to convert the stadium and then run it on a 99-year lease.

Organisers had planned to scale down the stadium following the Olympics, converting it from an 80,000-capacity arena to a 28,000-seater track and field venue.

However with athletics unable to afford the estimated annual £2m running costs, Baroness Ford, chair of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, announced a rethink last summer with a number of football clubs linked to taking on the venue.

West Ham are the early front runners and have been working closely with Newham Council on a £125m proposal, which would turn the stadium into a 60,000-capacity venue and retain the running track, allowing several athletics events each year.

The plan includes a number of community projects, such as a health centre and a school.

The main bowl of the stadium would be largely untouched, with 20,000 seats removed and larger video screens installed at either end of the venue, which is now 75% complete.

But the bulk of the conversion cost comes from adding a roof to cover the entire stadium, which would also involve moving the distinctive floodlights. At the moment, only a third of the stadium will be covered.

There are also plans to add corporate hospitality and dining facilities, now such a crucial part of any Premier League football ground.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has set aside £36m in its budget to pay for the old plan of converting the main stadium to a smaller athletics and community complex.

According to media speculation the most serious rival to West Ham is the American entertainment company AEG, who rescued the failing Millennium Dome by creating the successful O2 arena.

Baroness Ford wants to avoid leaving a costly legacy to the public purse and, with other venues such as the aquatics centre, velodrome and media centre also requiring legacy tenants, will choose one or two preferred bidders for the stadium in the autumn before making a final decision before Christmas.

It could then take until next March to complete a deal.