[Jason C]

Originally Posted by Bungle73

That's not allowed.

That's not stopping all and sundry from doing it - and rightly so, providing that they're selling on at face value.

[Bungle73]

Originally Posted by tvqueen1905

when does the park reopen to the public after the games??

Not for a long time. Somehow I've got 2014 in my mind, but I don't know if that's correct. They have a lot of reconstruction work to do first.

Originally Posted by Jason C

That's not stopping all and sundry from doing it - and rightly so, providing that they're selling on at face value.

The rule is designed to stop touts.

[MARTYM8]

Originally Posted by Jason C

That's not stopping all and sundry from doing it - and rightly so, providing that they're selling on at face value.

Exactly - I am not condoning it merely drawing people's attention to this as an option.

If you are within the 7 day official resale ticket far better someone else gets to visit the games/the Olympic park than the tickets go to waste - and if people sell at face value via those sites I really don't see what the problem is.

Its LOCOG's fault for introducing the 7 day window and for having an inflexible system!

[MARTYM8]

Originally Posted by tvqueen1905

when does the park reopen to the public after the games??

The northern part of the park - Eton Manor/the velodrome etc may open late next summer (the 1 year anniversary of the opening ceremony being rumoured). However the Orbit, stadium and acquatics centre area may not reopen until mid 2014.

There is a lot of work to do e.g. knocking down several arena and building housing. Let alone finding a tenant for the Stadium.

[Bungle73]

Originally Posted by MARTYM8

The northern part of the park - Eton Manor/the velodrome etc may open late next summer (the 1 year anniversary of the opening ceremony being rumoured). However the Orbit, stadium and acquatics centre area may not reopen until mid 2014.

There is a lot of work to do e.g. knocking down several arena and building housing. Let alone finding a tenant for the Stadium.

I thought they'd already decided West Ham were getting it? That's what Wikipedia says.

[MARTYM8]

Originally Posted by Bungle73

I thought they'd already decided West Ham were getting it? That's what Wikipedia says.

No - they are one of four potential bidders!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19291209

[Bungle73]

Originally Posted by MARTYM8

No - they are one of four potential bidders!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19291209

According to that article they did have a deal, but it fell through for some reason.

[Meepers]

Originally Posted by MARTYM8

No - they are one of four potential bidders!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19291209

Of which West Ham is the only realistic option. Anything else is a red herring, its going to be West Ham, its the only way that makes the slightest bit of sense

F1 track? Yeah fantastic, in a country with a number of top class tracks and Silverstone having recently signed a long term deal to host the British grand prix until recently into the next decade

Entertainment venue? Yeah right, when London has the O2, another large venue is a waste of time, you wont generate nearly enough revenue

Leyton Orient? Yeah, great idea, struggle to 5 figures for attendances in a stadium that will host 60 000. It has no benefit over West Ham.

West Ham is the only option, lets stop with this silly nonsense, give them the stadium and get on with it. The whole process is lunancy, West Ham have been the only option for years, and no amount of re run competitions will change the outcome

[paulbrock]

Originally Posted by Meepers

F1 track? Entertainment venue? Leyton Orient?

In fact the 4 bidders are West Ham, the F1 proposal, the University of East London with Essex Cricket Club, and "the University College of Football Business". Orient have since withdrawn from the process.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mot...shortlist.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17562300

[Jason100]

I'm not keen on this housing idea. They wanted to knock down Walthamstow stadium in favour for housing and L&Q got what they wanted. I don't see no harm in keeping it open as a park.

[paulbrock]

Originally Posted by Jason100

I I don't see no harm in keeping it open as a park.

Well there'll be the park as well....

Housing is planned for:

Chobham Manor - where the basketball arena currently is
East Wick - near the media centre (which is marked for commercial development)
Sweetwater - where the horrible "world's biggest Macdonalds" is, the big souvenir shop and the nearby hospitality
Marshgate Wharf - south of the stadium
Pudding Mill - current warm up area


http://www.londonlegacy.co.uk/competition/
has more, though bear in mind the shaded areas cover a wider area than the bits slated for housing....descriptions give more info.

[Meepers]

Originally Posted by paulbrock

In fact the 4 bidders are West Ham, the F1 proposal, the University of East London with Essex Cricket Club, and "the University College of Football Business". Orient have since withdrawn from the process.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mot...shortlist.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17562300

All of which are equally ridiculous. Its a public scandal we are wasting money on this competition again. West Ham is the only viable option, it was the only option last year, and will be the only option in the future.

[paulbrock]

Originally Posted by Meepers

All of which are equally ridiculous. Its a public scandal we are wasting money on this competition again. West Ham is the only viable option, it was the only option last year, and will be the only option in the future.

Perhaps you have more information on the two university bids than the rest of us.... I thought they were bound by confidentiality agreements and very little was known about them - why are they ridiculous exactly?

[Meepers]

Originally Posted by paulbrock

Perhaps you have more information on the two university bids than the rest of us.... I thought they were bound by confidentiality agreements and very little was known about them - why are they ridiculous exactly?

Because the only practical way to get tens of thousands of people into a stadium in England on a weekly basis is to get a football team in. Simple.

The only thing that comes close to that revenue level is a Premiership rugby side, and one of the absolute top clubs at that, of which none have declared an interest. There is no university usage that will get the thousands of people needed every week to create the economic viability to manage a 60 000 stadium, which will require millions of pounds a year to operate.

In budget tight times, no government is going to go down some utopian, spend for the greater good, nicey nice idea. It will a solid, financially driven proposal. The only idea that will come close to that is a football club with solid attendance. West Ham get 30 000+ at an average gate. Its really simple.

If this was any other country, the deal would have been signed sealed and delivered and the tins of paint already ordered for West Ham to paint the stadium with, because of nonsensical dithering, we are in a pointless situation of spending millions more to run yet another competition whose outcome will be the same as last time. And if we hold it again, it will the same outcome again. The basic economics are really sodding obvious. And always have been. People have searched for new ideas time and again, and guess what, no one has come to the public with any better ideas.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Meepers

If this was any other country, the deal would have been signed sealed and delivered and the tins of paint already ordered for West Ham to paint the stadium with

Tell that to the last European country to host the Games!
"There is more. In the working class district of Nikaia, north of the port of Piraeus, the weightlifting centre has almost never been used since the Games, at least for sports purposes. In the northern suburb of Galatsi, a giant 8,000-seat stadium also built in 2004 to host table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics stands empty.

"It's appalling," says Eleni Protonotariou in Galatsi's town hall. "The municipality for years has been trying to open it up for public use so local athletes at least can use it but our efforts have always been thwarted."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...-athletes-home

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Meepers

If this was any other country

Hate to break this to you, but as far as future planning for use of venues are concerned, London is in actually fact WAY ahead of any other olympic host city ever.

You do realise that until now practically no thought had gone in to what would happen to venues after their use at all until after the games, and that quite often the future use was little to none in many cases?

Unlike London, who identified long term use or long term plans for all new venues well in advance. The business with the stadium was a snag, caused largely by sour grapes of Tottenham, with out whom the sale to West Ham would have breezed through.

London has been praised to the hilt for it's forward planning, to the extent the IOC now require all future games to adopt a similar approach as part of it's bidding process.

To try and suggest London is somehow behind the ball game on this one is, quite honestly, laughable.

[zulu17]

Originally Posted by tvqueen1905

when does the park reopen to the public after the games??

It will change but here’s the announced timetable for the transition and reopening of the Olympic Park and a few other Olympic-related venues:

8 September 2012 – Lea Valley Whitewater Centre reopens
10 September 2012 – Lee Navigation Towpath reopens
Late September 2012 – Northern Retail Lifeline and Angel Road access to Stratford City reopens
30 September 2012 – The Greenway (except at Stratford High Street) and the View Tube reopens (some reports say the beginning of December instead.)
February 2013 – Canal Park opens
Spring 2013 – Temple Mill Lane reopens
27 July 2013 – North Park and Multi-Use Arena (aka Copper Box) reopens, London Lions move into the Copper Box, Waterden Road opens
Summer 2013 – East Village (aka the Olympic Village)opens
4 August 2013 – Ride London race starts from the Olympic Park
September 2013 – East Marsh reopens
December 2013 – Velo Park and Eton Manor reopens
Early 2014 – White Post Lane reopens
March 2014 – South Plaza, Aquatics Centre, Orbit, IBC/MPC reopens (although this brochure says 2013 for the Orbit and the South Plaza
August 2014 – Stadium reopens
Late 2014 – The Greenway (at Stratford High Street) reopens
2014 – First houses in Chobham Manor (site of the Basketball Arena) finished

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by zulu17

It will change but here’s the announced timetable for the transition and reopening of the Olympic Park and a few other Olympic-related venues:

So once September 9th has gone by, all those lovely landscaped gardens, open areas and canal paths will sit there, hidden behind boards and barriers, to be unloved, unused and unvisited by the public for more than a year.

Marvellous.

[paulbrock]

Originally Posted by zulu17

It will change but here’s the announced timetable for the transition and reopening of the Olympic Park and a few other Olympic-related venues:

really handy list thanks, where is it from?. Been visiting the park and its environs for the last 7 years, will be nice when it starts to get easier rather than harder!

Originally Posted by Jason C

So once September 9th has gone by, all those lovely landscaped gardens, open areas and canal paths will sit there, to be unloved, unused and unvisited by the public for more than a year.

Marvellous.

I share the sentiment. (though it will be 11 months, not over a year) Just looking at the plans and trying to see what has to change between now and then... it doesn't seem like a year's worth of work....Riverside Arena and Basketball Arena demolished, build some new houses and a few cafes, ship out all the Olympic infrastructure, most of which looked very temporary anyway.....

Still, I guess thats why we're not in charge of getting the park ready for public use!

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Jason C

So once September 9th has gone by, all those lovely landscaped gardens, open areas and canal paths will sit there, hidden behind boards and barriers, to be unloved, unused and unvisited by the public for more than a year.

Marvellous.

I think thats unfair, tbh. It's unrealistic to think they can magically get everything opened up a few months after the games. There is a heck of a lot of work to be done, it's a damn sight more complicated than some people seem to think, for sure..

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by Muttley76

I think thats unfair, tbh. It's unrealistic to think they can magically get everything opened up a few months after the games. There is a heck of a lot of work to be done, it's a damn sight more complicated than some people seem to think, for sure..

I'm not suggesting that the work be completed quickly, but that it should either be temporarily held off or take place in phases to allow the public to come in and enjoy the park for a further limited period (or periods) after the Games have concluded.

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Jason C

I'm not suggesting that the work be completed quickly, but that it should either temporarily held off or take place in phases to allow the public to come in and enjoy the park for a further limited period or periods after the Games have concluded.

it's not feasible because they are on a tight schedule, certain things that are on lease, for example, have to be returned. The chap overseeing all this was on radio 5 the last day of the games and made it very clear it is not remotely an option to do what you suggest.

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by Muttley76

it's not feasible because they are on a tight schedule, certain things that are on lease, for example, have to be returned. The chap overseeing all this was on radio 5 the last day of the games and made it very clear it is not remotely an option to do what you suggest.

Very well.

Better hope I can get a ticket for the last day of the Paralympics, then, so I can have one last look around the place before the diggers come in and rip it up.

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Jason C

Very well.

I'd better hope I can get a ticket for the last day of the Paralympics, in that case, so I can have one last look around the place before the diggers come in and rip it up.

they may well have to "rip it up' but it's going to be left looking very nice in the end...

one of the reasons they issues all those extra day passes was in response to the demand from people to get to have look around the park, so i think they have done their best to meet the demand.

[paulbrock]

Originally Posted by Muttley76

one of the reasons they issues all those extra day passes was in response to the demand from people to get to have look around the park, so i think they have done their best to meet the demand.

Tell me about it! Tower Hamlets residents were offered 2000 park-only tickets for the penultimate day of the Olympics, on a first come first served basis. I turned up at 8am, an hour before the doors opened, hoping to get some and the queue was so long already that I missed out (2 hour queue with nothing to show for it).

In the end I've been lucky, had a couple of trips up there, but I do wish they'd been a bit keener to limit the number of tickets some people have had - I know one guy that, in his own words: "- Saw 40 different events across 8 sports during 11 sessions at 6 Olympic venues on 10 different days."

Then there's locals (well, just about. Tower Hamlets is an official Olympic Borough. Barely) who are queueing all morning just to get a glimpse of the park. Hey ho. I'm sure everyone here has experienced the frustration of trying to get the tix they want.