2012 Olympic Stadium could be pulled down- 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00
The new Olympic Stadium for London 2012 may be demolished after the Games to make way for a rebuilt version designed for a football club.
According to media reports, 2012 organisers are considering demolishing the £525m stadium and rebuilding one which could be used by a Premier League football team.
Planners believe that may be a more attractive financial proposition than subsidising future use for the stadium as an athletics venue.
The centrepiece venue for London 2012 has become the main talking point in recent weeks with organisers struggling to find a use for it after the Games has concluded.
Under the existing plans the Olympic Stadium will have an 80,000-seat capacity and it is supposedly to retain a capability to host major athletics events beyond 2012.
A number of football clubs have dismissed the idea of taking the arena over due to its sheer size while the pledge to maintain the stadium as an athletics venue is not thought to make commercial sense.
Given that several former Olympic host cities have found themselves lumbered with little used but expensively built ‘white elephant’ venues years after the Games much will depend on the conclusions which London Major Boris Johnson's Olympic legacy advisory board make in the coming months.
The construction of a new post-Games stadium would require major private investment but could prove to make more economical sense in the long-term.
On the record, London 2012 officials are maintaining their line that the issue of retaining an athletics facility after the event is non-negotiable following a commitment made to the International Olympic Committee to that effect.
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