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20,000 Olympics journalists may be moved to Stratford City
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent06.11.08
OLYMPICS chiefs are considering a cost-cutting move to relocate the giant 2012 media centre to the Stratford City retail complex, the Evening Standard can reveal.
The Olympic Delivery Authority is in talks with property developer Westfield which is building the £1.5billion shopping centre on the eastern edge of the Olympic Park.
ODA chiefs are considering taking a short lease on part of the development which is due for completion in spring 2011.
They have been forced to consider alternative sites after the original plan to house 20,000 journalists at a purpose-built complex in the west of the park in Hackney Wick was hit by the credit crunch.
Plans for a permanent 1.5million square metre complex - consisting of eight giant sheds each the size of the Royal Festival Hall - have been torn up. Olympics chiefs have failed to attract media and creative industries as anticipated and the private developer Carillion Igloo has struggled to raise its share of the £380million cost.
Hopes that the media centre would become the new Soho have been dashed. Eighty per cent of the planned permanent structure will now be temporary and ODA chiefs are looking at the low-cost option of using existing buildings.
Stratford City will be similar in size to the 1.6million sq ft White City shopping centre which was also built by Westfield and opened last week. It is intended to rival the West End and will have flagship stores from John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose under one roof.
Talks have focused on whether Stratford City could accommodate all or part of the media centre which has typically been divided in previous Games into two blocks - the International Broadcast Centre, and the Main Press Centre. Print journalists could occupy nearby office or retail space. Providing hundreds of studios for broadcasters from around the world would be more of a challenge.
ODA chief executive David Higgins has admitted that Stratford City could be an option.
He told the London Assembly: "Our base case looks at temporary and permanent facilities in Hackney Wick but we will look at all options including Stratford City."
An ODA spokesman said: "We continue to review our plans for the media centre and explore a wide range of options."
Westfield declined to comment.
Reader views (5)
Yeah right as if they will want to be in that outskirt.
- Georgie, Islington, London
Nobby, it's not that the UK can't host the games, It's that they have put politicians in charge.......And how many of them have actually done anything outside of spend other people's money?
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs
20,000 journalists - that's double the amount of athletes taking part.
- Jl, London
New Soho in 8 giant sheds in the middle of nowhere? With nothing around but housing estates and a bit of parkland that's been hyped to breaking point, and a mile walk to a Zone 3 Tube station?
Not surprising potential users viewed it with as much enthusiasm as being consigned to Siberia.
As for the 'low-cost option of using existing buildings' - the only problem is they don't exist yet either. Only Stratford City Zone 1 - the shopping centre - is due for completion by 2012.
And seriously can anything be more yawn-inducing than yet more M&S, Waitrose and John Lewis stores?
- Charles, London, UK
Swimming pools that won't be built; media centre cannot be accommodated; funding for hockey not guaranteed; no lasting legacy...
When will whoever is in charge of this shambles get the message that the UK does not have the ability to host this event?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
