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£525m stadium could be demolished after 2012
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent05.09.08
London 2012 chiefs were today plunged into a battle over the legacy of two key Olympic venues.
They are facing a crisis after it emerged the £525 million Olympic stadium may be demolished to build a venue for a Premier League football club. Meanwhile, the future of the £1 billion athletes' village has been put into further doubt by the resignation of two key figures from developer Lend Lease.
Plans for a purpose-built football stadium in the Olympic Park are being made amid concerns the venue will otherwise become a white elephant.
The London Development Agency may ditch the original plan to convert the 80,000-capacity stadium to an athletics venue holding 25,000 people.
Planners for Mayor Boris Johnson believe it could be cheaper in the long run to build a stadium in partnership with a football club than subsidise it as an athletics venue.
That could pave the way for West Ham who are sceptical about moving to a former Parcelforce depot site suggestedby the LDA. West Ham's initial talks with 2012 chiefs about a move to the Olympic stadium broke down two years ago over the cost of converting the venue after the Games.
Tottenham Hotspur plan to redevelop their own White Hart Lane stadium to boost capacity but sources say they would not rule out a move to Stratford if the price was right.
Mr Johnson has become increasingly concerned that no "anchor tenant" has come forward to occupy the venue, but denied there were plans to demolish it.
His spokesman said: "The London Development Agency has rightly been looking at a range of options but the Mayor has no plans, and is not aware of any plans to demolish the stadium. The Mayor has made it clear on countless occasions that he envisages a long term future for the Olympic stadium. Expensive facilities should not be built unless they have a viable future.
"That's why he is determined to play his part in finding a suitable use for the big ticket London venues beyond the 2012 games. He also agrees that athletics should be part of that legacy."
Responsibility for making it pay its way has been given to Tom Russell, the LDA director of Olympic legacy, who was a key figure in the building of Manchester City's Eastlands stadium when at Manchester City Council. The issue will be the first major matter dealt with by Mr Johnson's legacy advisory board, to be launched this month.
Progress on the £1 billion athletes' village was plunged into further doubt this week when Nigel Hugill announced he was resigning as chairman of Lend Lease. Development director Robin Butler is also going.
The troubled Australian firm has struggled to raise its £450 million stake in the project with a deal not expected until later this year.
However, the planners are not looking to change the existing design for the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, and have also been told that whatever is there afterwards must have the capability to stage major athletics events.
An LDA spokesman said: "The LDA has left no stone unturned in examining all legacy options for the Olympic venues and is still looking at a range of potential sporting uses including athletics, football and rugby for the Olympic stadium."
Mr Johnson's Olympics watchdog, David Ross, has warned that the 2012 stadium's cost now is £525 million and there would have to be significant private investment for a new venue.
2012 chiefs have also warned having an athletics facility after the Games was one of the promises made to the IOC.
Reader views (21)
If it is to be used for football, Why not build the stadium like the one that hosted the Commonwealth games before Manchester City moved in. 3 permanent stands and a temporary one at one end so the track can be taken out, the grass moved closer to the already permanent stand, then the temporary stand replaced with a permanent structure.
Far less cost and hassle than demolishing it completely only to rebuild it
- Martin, preston, Lancs
Isn't it weird how as soon as the UK is given such a wonderful opportunity as hosting the Olympics they take it for granted and completely miss the point of it? I mean, shouldn't they've thought carefully about this before they built the stadium? and would there still be a need for a 'premiership football club' in that area if this wasn't happening? It's hard to believe that something which should be as straightforward as 'building a stadium for the olympic games' even has room for such complication as demolishing it after only being a few months old. It's embarrassing that the government even has the state of mind to think that. This is such an incredible opportunity that the UK has been given and instead of being selfish and using people's money to build it only for it to be gone after a few months why can't we just accept it for what it is and create something that we could benefit from?
- Christie, United Kingdom
Why not build the original stadium intended and keep it for sports and such within the area? If there's already enough facilities nearby then I'm sure it can be used to host international competitions or even national. I can't see, however, why the stadium can't be used for both the Olympics and the football.
- Rebecca, Edinburgh, UK
One only has to look at the now abandoned and derelict Olympic park in Athens to see what could become of the building of these white elephants. They are a multi-billion pound swindle, with very few redeeming qualities for the local populace. They are no more than an expensive boondoggle; created to suck money from the needy to line the pockets of greedy corporate elitists, they are truly irrelevant and should be consigned to the scrapheap of history.
- Graham, Hamilton Canada
They could use the site for an extension to the 70,000 capacity mega-synagogue proposed for the area.
- Gooseandgander, LongBeachCA via Leeds
This public facility would make a fabulous greenhouse, and indoor orchard.
By 2012, you may need it.
- Mary Bell, Oklahoma, USA
Lets just make sure the stadium gets built on time and for good value!
Remember Wembley...
- Mark, Watford
They could use the site for an extension to the 70,000 capacity mega-mosque proposed for the area.
- Lickyalips, Richmond, Surrey
Sorry, is football the only sport we are allowed?
The capital has no athletics stadium capable of hosting even a national championships!
Yes, it needs to have other uses, but look at Munich, it retains the Olympic Park, Stadium and Aquatics centre all in one area.
London Youth games needs this sort of facility, Athletics needs a major presence in London. If there isn't a major centre then Athletics cannot grow, can't host events.
The only legacy currently is that there will be a major sporting centre in the east of London covering nearly all major sports in one site. Move football in on a permanent basis and you can kiss goodbye to everything else as it will totally dominate.
You won't be able to have swimming championships the same weekend as a football match for a start. Would you allow your kids to go and train on a match night?
Football has more money that it knows what to do with, it's the only sport with new facilities in London in the last 20 years, please please don't give them the Olympic Stadium too!
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs
For the love of Pete! When on EARTH is the country going to realise that there is more to life than football, particularly as the national side is nothing to write home about? Have we learned nothing from the fantastic achievements of the team in Beijing - just think how much better we could do if we had PROPER sports facilities (as promised by Boris, Ken et al) in this capital, rather than the half baked run-down eyesores the capital boasts right now. Well done Evening Standard for your campaign for a legacy - would be good if this were to be accessible to the whole capital though, not just the East End!
- Fluffy, Croydon, UK
Of course we won't get a refund of our stolen council tax. Can our "masters" not learn the lessons from every other city around the world that has been saddled with these useless "facilities" after wasting billions just to host a 3 week event that is forgotten by day 22? If we have to have the Olympics every 4 years why not just stage them in one place (how about Athens, where they began) and save all this criminal waste?
- Tony, London, England
Have you been to to the Dome recently?
It is quite a thriving venue and well worth the visit!
- Lia, London
Deborah, London, Perhaps you are unaware that the Dome (now 02) is the most successful venue in Europe. The Government will earn money from events staged there for the next 25 years, and it will also be used to stage some of the Olympic events. It will have paid for itself twice over. Hardly a disaster, is it?
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. Spain
Surely it should be given to West Ham United. Perhaps turning Upton Park into a more sustainable Athletics legacy.
If Spurs were to move there, surely they would lose their North London heritage?
- Roy Naldo, Hornchurch, UK
Quite simply, if the stadium remains as an athletic stadium it will become a complete white elephant requiring permanent subsidy by London taxpayer's, as there is no commercial demand for a permanent athletics stadium. By allowing either, or both, WHU and Spurs to lease the ground Londoners can receive income from the stadium on an ongoing basis, in the same way that the taxpayers of Greater Manchester benefit from Manchester City leasing the stadium used for the Commonwealth games.
- Steve,, London
Ah but: Politicians promises are not even written down these days because the paper needs to be recycled before the ink is dry.
The joke is that the next elected government is going to be the ones tarred with the "Great Olympic Failure" I believe that the Labour Party's current Kamikazi tactics are insulting the real Kamikazi Pilots because at least they thought it was the honourable thing to do....
Its time for change! Anybody know where to buy some Gunpowder? Its November very soon!
- Dene Wood, Grays, Essex, That little country by the sea that used to have
Problems problems problems.
But it will be alright in the end wont it?
- Mr S.Port, London
This sounds like Boris is unwilling to spend money on the upkeep of a new, modern 25,000 capacity athletics stadium, which was promised to the IOC as part of the legacy of the Games and what London desperately needs. Seeing as we have other sporting facilities closing across the capital and plenty of football stadiums, surely it would be wiser to invest in the Olympic stadium for the sake of future Olympian athletes and let the private investors build football stadiums elsewhere where regeneration is needed. Boris seems to have completely missed the point of why London was awarded the Games in the first place.
- Darren, London
Some of the purpose built sports facilities in Athens are already costing Greeks a fortune whilst they lie dormant. Can't see why it won't happen here too. Can we learn nothing from the Dome?
- Deborah, London
If the Stadium is going to be built by a Football Club will Londoner's get a refund on the tax they are paying for it to be built? Or will they be subsidizing the building of a Stadium which will probably end up being sold to a foreign multi-millionaire (Eastlands Manchester) making loads of money for the owners of the football club and their friends?
- Mick, London, England
I as a former Londoner (retired to Wales-cannot afford to live in London)am ashamed that yet another football club is going to get a stadium, what by rights should be a sporting venue for all. We lost Manchester, then Wembley and Crystal Palace can only accommodate so many, London is the capital of Great Britain and so should have facilities for sport, there are other sports besides flippin football. The people should have a say in what happens to the stadium after the Olympics. Come on sports fans stand up and be counted (and I don't just mean footie fanatics) these clubs charge the fans enough money to build several new stadiums, that is if they lower the absurd amount they pay their players.
- Meg, merthyr tydfil south wales
