The stadium at the centre of that graphic is not Wembley, it will be a completely new 80,000 seater £500m stadium. Here`s a plan of the site, I don`t know if you need subcription to the Times if you`re outside the UK to see it: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4662-891521,00.html If cross rail gets built in time the will be a lot of public transport links to the site.
I, for one, would have welcomed the bid. It would have made more sense because we would have had just about everything in place -- Patriot Center, Bender Arena, Smith Center, MCI Center, Comcast Center, Camden Yards, The New RFK As The Olympic Stadium, FedEx Field, the Chesapeake Bay, Homewood Field, the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Unitas Stadium at Towson University, the First Mariner Arena, Germantown SoccerPlex, and the natatorium way out near Manassas. About all that would have had to have been custom-built would have been the whitewater canoe facility.
Rob, what is that long strip that says "Stratford International" on it? That's not an airport runway, is it? It also looks like they are making three hockey pitches in the area, including a 15,000-seat stadium.
West Ham United are the closet team to the area as you can see it says "West Ham" on the right, it holds 80,000 and i aint sure West Ham could fill it but who knows
Nah it aint a airport runway. there is a airport just south east of the picture called London City Airport.
I don't know a lot of EPL teams that can support 80K per match. Will that stadium be reconfigured to, say, 45K after the Games? Or turned into a new cricket oval or the replacement for Twickenham?
That would be pointless, they'll just keep it the way it is, they'll probably dig up the running track and might put more seats in.
With a name like Stratford international you might think so but no, it`s a train station, the Eurostar will stop there. There is a small airport nearby, London City airport I think it`s called.
I guess that's a bullet-train service like the InterCity 125 or the TGV? Sweet! I only wish America would build this kind of rail infrastructure instead of building more roads.
I'll believe that thing is getting built when I see shovels in the ground. If enough people in Park Slope start complaining, organizing, and calling their reps (who they give a lot of money to), they'll kill the larger development plan and then Rattner will have to decide if he wants a stand alone arena without all the multistory buildings around it. Not saying that blocking it would be a good thing, but politicians have a way of listening to connected, well-healed neighborhood opposition.
An ecstatic London. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=qw1120661283732S163 London - Car horns tooted, children shrieked and men punched the air in jubilation as Londoners reacted to the shock news their city had beaten long-time favourite Paris to host the 2012 Olympics. "It is amazing, I can't believe it," said Alex Savin, a 11-year old junior fencer with Olympic ambitions of his own. ................................ Within minutes of the announcement that London would host an Olympics for the first time since 1948, jets from the Royal Air Force screamed across the capital's skyline. Trailing red, white and blue smoke the Red Arrows aerobatic team was greeted with renewed cheers - and speculation among some of the crowd as to what the pilots would have done had London lost. "Maybe they would have turned round and bombed Paris," joked one man to his friend, revelling in Britain's victory over traditional foes France. .........................
Blair is getting some good press. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000973666 Blair praised in London Olympics win By Reuters SINGAPORE -- Tireless lobbying, a superb bid and a massive charm offensive from British prime minister Tony Blair lifted London to a remarkable Olympic victory over Paris in the race to win the 2012 Games on Wednesday. Having flown into Singapore on Sunday, Blair spent hours, day and night, charming International Olympic Committee members one-on-one before jetting out in the early hours of Wednesday to host this week's G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. His efforts proved decisive as London overhauled the long-term favorites 54-50 in the final round of voting to become the first city to be awarded the richest prize in sport for a third time.......................
Great for London. Here's hoping Tony rubs it in Chirac's face these next few days in Scotland after Chirac's comments that the only thing the UK provides to European agriculture is mad cow disease.
They can always retro-fit it for a 30-40K football stadium. As of now, I don't think any of the London teams have agreed to move there. Maybe MK Dons can now come back.
I just happened to catch the BBC World Service on the radio at lunch time, and they kept repeating "our top story - London wins its bid for the 2012 Olympics!", literally every two minutes. Kind of funny.
Instead of petty politics and smoke and mirrors like New York this time, London put together something impressive. Well done indeed. http://www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/sp....xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/07/07/ixsporttop.html Ecstatic reaction to decision floods in (Filed: 06/07/2005) Leading figures from various walks of life and from a variety of sports have sent their congratulations to the London bid team after the decision to hand the capital the Olympics in 2012. Lord Sebastian Coe, bid chairman "This is the biggest prize in sport. I feel absolutely ecstatic. It is massive - it is huge." The Queen "I send my warmest congratulations to you and every member of the London 2012 team for winning the bid for the UK. It's a really outstanding achievement to beat such a highly competitive field." Princess Anne "The team have done a really good job. (The long wait) was not a very good moment for the system. If you listen to what the senior athletes said it's worth bearing in mind they were all inspired very early by watching things like the Games - the potential is enormous." Tony Blair "It is a great chance to develop sport in this country and for a fantastic Games. It is a momentous day for London. This will provide dividends for all of us. I could not bear to watch the process. It is not often in this job that you punch the air and do a jig." Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary "I really want to say thank you. There have been thousands of people involved in this. The millions of people back home have made the difference." David Beckham, England football captain "I was saying last night I used to canoe down the Lea Valley on the Lea River the whole area is going to be transformed. It's not just about the East End - it's not just about London - it's going to transform the whole country - to have the Olympics in London that's something special. The feeling out there was incredible. I've won the European Cup, FA Cups and Premier Leagues - that's up there with them as well, it's an amazing feeling." Kelly Holmes, Athens double Olympic champion "It going to change so many people's lives in this country. I have to congratulate Seb and all his team because they have really turned the bid around. It was proof of the lasting legacy a London Games is going to leave and the way we can inspire the younger generation. I think from now on children are going to want to be at the Olympics in 2012." ................
Its a pride thing for them. Considering that, after all, they are a small country (with influence) to have something like this on their shores is a big feather in their cap. As for those who don't care about this, thats understandable. Obviously, there are more important issues to deal with on this planet, but the Olympics have become the modern version of the World's Fair and there is always going to be this height of competitiveness to host one of these.