What can be done to help this place?
Isn't it just sad looking at what has happened to it? :(
Tourists visit it today expecting to see what the saw in 2004 but instead they get yet another one of Greece's historic ruins. :ohno:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/1123328127_539307a364_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/265083028_446a65405d_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2062585730_0911942826_o.jpg

Are the pools surrounding the complex now always empty and dirty?
What can be done to revitalise the park? Surely by adding some kind of night time attractions you could make it a weekly venue and place for people to stay around at after an event. Maybe we could build bars within the park or something to keep people there?

As the state and local Council are totally incopetant, I suggest OAKA be handed over to the private sector on a long term lease, that incorporates:-


Ongoing management and mainteance of the site to an agreed standard;
Ongoing rental returns to the greek state;
% of takings over a fixed amount to be paid to greek state;
New operator can develop park (OAKA) in line with Master Plan; and
Gauranteed 24 hour public access to all public domain areas (agora etc).


There is no reason why this outstanding creation cannot be made commercially sustainable.........

Here in Sydney, the former Olympic site in Homebush is being converted into a satelite city with highrise buildings, conference venues and public open space........

I heard about plans to be given to the Hellenic Expo Organization which runs the Thessaloniki and the Athens Expo center in Maroussi to convert it to a multi-purpose event site or something. But nothing concrete still, or, I need to check my sources...

As the state and local Council are totally incopetant, I suggest OAKA be handed over to the private sector on a long term lease, that incorporates:-


Ongoing management and mainteance of the site to an agreed standard;
Ongoing rental returns to the greek state;
% of takings over a fixed amount to be paid to greek state;
New operator can develop park (OAKA) in line with Master Plan; and
Gauranteed 24 hour public access to all public domain areas (agora etc).


There is no reason why this outstanding creation cannot be made commercially sustainable.........

Here in Sydney, the former Olympic site in Homebush is being converted into a satelite city with highrise buildings, conference venues and public open space........
I totally agree. The public sector in Greece is just the place where nothing happens. We need a larger private sector - the moment a big company aquires a facility, it is revitalised. Look at "City Link" (the former Army Shard Funds Building). A true landmark of Athens, it was decaying for decades...some morons in the early '70s even wanted to demolish it...and now it shines with its original splendor, thanks to the bank that bought it.

it looks spectacular at night though, honestly, and Athens is really a city that comes alive at night, so it's fitting. sure it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing. remember how that space looked beforehand? i do, and it wasn't pretty.

Since we have the space now, we should use it properly.
Privatisation would work a treat IMO.

I heard about plans to be given to the Hellenic Expo Organization which runs the Thessaloniki and the Athens Expo center in Maroussi to convert it to a multi-purpose event site or something. But nothing concrete still, or, I need to check my sources...


The problem with this solution is the architectural part. We all know what happend to the velodrome after they closed the bottom part of it without having the advice of Calatrava. So i am afraid that we could see horrible structures (tents) and other surprises.

One thing that should also be considered is the big areas of the so called "patimeno choma" which continualy make a "dirty" impression

I agree, this "patimeno choma" fashion annoys me. People pretend it symbolizes something - while it actually symbolizes low cost. And it's a constant source of dirt. There are many materials that can be used to pave an area.

The sad part of the story is that 4 years after the Olympic Games one of worlds most beautiful Olympic sites, a masterpiece of Architecture (together with Munich) is "waiting".... waiting for what?.. I just dont get it..

Just have a look at Munich Olympiapark website:
http://www.olympiapark-muenchen.de/

There a lot of work to be done...

The problem with this solution is the architectural part. We all know what happend to the velodrome after they closed the bottom part of it without having the advice of Calatrava. So i am afraid that we could see horrible structures (tents) and other surprises.


Agreed

I have a question to ask:

If anybody wants to, say, visit this complex what s/he has to do? I am asking this because, probably here or elsewhere I was given the answer that a pre-arranged organized group tour which may be pre-agreed with the stadium's ( ? ) "authorities" or whatever, may be possible ( ? ).

Of course, all this is miles away from a proper presentation of the stadium including references in tourist guides, visiting hours, an organized utilization of the facilities with organized eating, drinking, sanitary or other amenities. Not to mention web presence and the like.

Unless these things exist in which case I would appreciate of someone can tell us more as, the least I can say, the possibility to visit the Athens Olympic Complex is NOT advertised or should I use the word "encouraged" nowadays. (και οι αστυνόμοι φρουροί θέλουν την ησυχία τους, "που να τρέχεις τώρα" κλπ κλπ μπορεί να λένε).

GM here are some details about visiting the site from the official OAKA site
http://www.oaka.com.gr/

Ξεναγήσεις

Το Ολυμπιακό Αθλητικό Κέντρο Αθηνών «Σπύρος Λούης» δέχεται για περιήγηση στους χώρους του οργανωμένες ομάδες επισκεπτών ( άνω των 15 ατόμων).
Οι ενδιαφερόμενοι θα πρέπει να αποστείλουν φαξ στο 210 6834021 προκειμένου να δεσμευτεί η συγκεκριμένη ημέρα και ώρα.
Το κόστος είναι 3€ το άτομο (άνω των 12 ετών). Οι οργανωμένες επισκέψεις ελληνικών εκπαιδευτικών ιδρυμάτων είναι δωρεάν.

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες απευθυνθείτε στο Τμήμα Δημοσίων και Διεθνών Σχέσεων (210 6834777).

...which sadly, exactly corroborates what I say. There are no preset visiting hours, it's like visiting a dictator's mausoleum and not an open sports complex which has been an Olympic Games site. We should be glad that we are not asked to fill a stamped application with apostille.

I had proposed the idea to have a kiosk at the entrance with a €5 entrance fee and small movable structures where snacks and coffee would be sold until the big shot "private investor" appointee for the utilization of the park finally shows up...

But I guess this solution is light years away from the grasp of understanding of the "current administration".

..."που να τρέχεις τώρα"

There isnt anything that saddens me more than seeing the condition OAKA is today ... :( I remember the months before the games, how anxious we were about its construction, i remember the pride we felt during the games and for what we had built... the stunning pictures from the complex...

It is one of the worst crimes the Greek state has ever done in modern years! As it seems the Greek state wanted all this wonderful ( and, don't forget that, incredibly expensive ) buildings to be used only for the 15 days of the games and then let them to rot.

Well then, im sorry to say that, but.... we didnt deserved the Olympics. No. We didnt. I feel so angry seeing the OAKA in the state that it is today ( and its not only OAKA, almost all of the olympic venues are in this sorry state ), that now im truly ashamed that i live in this country.

Anger and shame is all i feel. Well done. Very well done.

What needs to be done?

:: Build shops and cafetirias and resturants on the other side of the archway.

:: Plant grass and trees.

:: Orginize events for the public.

:: Build a museum.

BTW, the Olympic games museum will be accomodated in the IBC building which for the larger part is turned into a high class shopping center.

BTW, the Olympic games museum will be accomodated in the IBC building which for the larger part is turned into a high class shopping center.

Will be? so its officially planned to be built ? thats something good for a change.

Have they ever thought of holding large concerts in the main stadium? Stadiums are used all around the world for concerts.

What about all the smaller football clubs in Athens, couldn't they share the venue, and save some money in the process?

They do hold large concerts in the main stadium.

I think OAKA is great for a walks, or if you want to play tennis, football, swim
or just sit down and enjoy sunsets.

Eurovision was there also...

Have they ever thought of holding large concerts in the main stadium? Stadiums are used all around the world for concerts.

What about all the smaller football clubs in Athens, couldn't they share the venue, and save some money in the process?

They hold a couple of concerts at the Athens Olympic Indoor Hall when the act is big.

Nothing is maintained the way it's supposed to be maintained in the Balkans...they're used for one special occasion and eventually everybody forgets about it

i think oaka spirous louis stadium should be redesigned, by making it a bit smaller and have retractable seating around the trrack then handed over to aek as they need a new stadium and taht way it will get used

i think oaka spirous louis stadium should be redesigned, by making it a bit smaller and have retractable seating around the trrack then handed over to aek as they need a new stadium and taht way it will get used
Are you serious? I am not into football and I know nothing about AEK or any other team, so don't think I am biased! But how can you make the stadium "smaller"? And why? The main stadium is not the issue - it's been in use since 1982, when it was built. Both for sports and for music. The Calatrava roof made it a real landmark, and it should stay that way. What they need to do is find sustainable uses for the other facilities of the complex. Long-term leases to the private sector seem to be the onle reasonable solution. Despite what KKE and TV-celebrity Tsipras will tell you, that's the best way not only to preserve the buildings but also to create jobs.

Exactly, the whole site should be given over to the private sector. The stadia are not the problem, they will still get utilised. Commercialise the venue, build office buildings, residential devemolpments, hold international exposistions. The OAKA site is in a prime position in athens and it is easy to get to. Its a shame to see this site being left to rot. And get rid of the Patimeno Xoma, Whats wrong with plane and simple grass?

I might say the whole OAKA venue still looks magnifescent from google earth.

build office buildings,residential developements??
where exactly?
near the glass roof? :P
i will agree with you though,it looks magnificent

as i know the velodrome which was once called beset in the world is now not operational for high standart competitions....

Πολιτιστικές Εκδηλώσεις
Συναυλία Yousou N΄ Dour

Ο παγκοσμίου φήμης Σενεγαλέζος καλλιτέχνης Yousou N΄ Dour
θα πραγματοποιήσει συναυλία στις 22 Απριλίου 2009, στο Ποδηλατοδρόμιο του
Ο.Α.Κ.Α., με σκοπό την οικονομική στήριξη του έργου της Ελληνικής Δράσης
Αφρικής (Action Africa), υπό την αιγίδα και την υποστήριξη του Δήμου Αμαρουσίου.


Πολιτιστικές Εκδηλώσεις
Συναυλία AC / DC

[COLOR=Black]Οι AC / DC,το θρυλικό συγκρότημα του
"Rock n Roll Train", στο πλαίσιο της τουρνέ τους "Black Ice Word Tour" έρχονται
για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα. Η συναυλία τους θα γίνει στο Κεντρικό Στάδιο
του ΟΑΚΑ στις 28 Μαίου 2009.

*********************************************************

OAKA (http://www.oaka.com.gr/)

as i know the velodrome which was once called beset in the world is now not operational for high standart competitions....

I like the velodrome very much, but im not sure with what criteria it was called the "best" in the world.....that word seems to be used quite loosely in greece. Also, there's a difference between best from facts, and best as a compliment..

anyway, I wish the whole complex was revived, i agree with everything people have said, even the grass issue(which people have been moaning about since 2004 but until the olympic euphoria passed you couldn't really state any opinion..obviously now things resurface).

I'm glad its being used for concerts etc. hopefully it can be opened regularly for visits.


Many countries have large stadiums but if they are not private then some team plays there, cause atheltics is not enough........but the stadium is not made for regular football, and AEK/PAO need something else.

So I dont know how it can stay public without those teams...:ohno:

it was called "best" as a fact. as it wasn't said by greeks or just fans but UCI and also some respectable Cycling magazines and experts.

Πολιτιστικές Εκδηλώσεις
Συναυλία Yousou N΄ Dour

[COLOR=Black]Ο παγκοσμίου φήμης Σενεγαλέζος καλλιτέχνης Yousou N΄ Dour
θα πραγματοποιήσει συναυλία στις 22 Απριλίου 2009, στο Ποδηλατοδρόμιο του
Ο.Α.Κ.Α., με σκοπό την οικονομική στήριξη του έργου της Ελληνικής Δράσης
Αφρικής (Action Africa), υπό την αιγίδα και την υποστήριξη του Δήμου Αμαρουσίου.




*********************************************************

OAKA (http://www.oaka.com.gr/)

nothing agains Yousou n'dour , I really like his song with Deep Forest etc but would prefer cycling championship to be hold in Athens with the velodrome use.

A nice photo of the Olympic complex at Maroussi.

http://s4.tinypic.com/x2rjv5.jpg

Photo by Grigorios Oikonomou (www.airphotos.gr (http://www.airphotos.gr))

This is an area with huge potential! Some large venues are organised their each year but they are few and far between!

I'm not sure how OAKA should be developed better though. The opening of the Olympic museum would be helpfull because it would increase the flow of visitors to the area. During the 2004 Olympics a portacabin was placed close to Irini station with a Mcdonalds. They could construct a restaurant/hotel in that area or a conference hall on one of the parking lots. Just my :2cents:

The OAKA complex needs to get greener... the dirt needs to be replaced with grass. From the aerial picture above it is even more obvious its absent ...

I can't see dirt :D

First of all it isn't dirt..........it is gravel.

I believe it was used to help with the water absorption on site and to avoid water run-off/flooding problems further downstream.

Grass was not used as it requires constant maintenance........and we know how much attention we pay to ongoing maintenance in greece (not alot).

From the photo, it doesn't appear that the semi-advanced trees along the Agora have thrived..........Hopefully future tree planting inititives will use local varieties and not cold climate varieties

I still think there is room for further development on site. Some of OAKA's carparks and tennis courts could be consolidated with the freed up land turned over to new development.

All in all, OAKA is in a great location to grow and develop into a new mixed use precinct.

Whats the URL for that specific photo from airphotos.gr? I've been having trouble finding the Athens pages.

Slighly off-topic......on the same site: www.airphotos.gr

Everyone should have a look at aerial photos of the devestation left behind by the Parnitha forest fires.

Our collective incompetance in all its glory........

i think oaka spirous louis stadium should be redesigned, by making it a bit smaller and have retractable seating around the trrack then handed over to aek as they need a new stadium and taht way it will get used

No, it should not be redesigned. The stadium is used to max capacity, first of all. Not on a daily basis, but such a stadium is needed on occasion for large events such as the Champion's League final, and even some concerts sell to max capacity. One large national stadium of this size is needed. Second, Santiago Calatrava's beautiful renovation architecture should remain untouched. And thirdly, it should not be sold to private interests.

I like NickyF's solution of leasing it to private interests; I think it's the best solution to both preserving the site and maintaining it properly. I'm open to public-private cooperation. We all agree that the public sector alone is very very slow, but public-private cooperaton -on the other hand- has produced amazing results in Greece within the past 15 years. From the Athens Metro to Egnatia Odos and the Rio-Antirrio bridge, anything that was built and created with such speed and efficiency that we would have never imagined possible 15 years ago, was all done by the combination of public and private sectors.


anyway, I wish the whole complex was revived, i agree with everything people have said, even the grass issue

As NickyF pointed out, that's not dirt. It's gravel. And it should remain that way. Grass requires far too much maintenance and far too much water. Lawns are not suitable for Mediterranean climate regions because they put a huge strain on water resources, and their use should be very limited (like football fields).

It may seem odd to some people that the Olympic Stadium has no regular tenant, and is used to max capacity only for very large events, but this is not unique to Greece. I'm not trying to make excuses or anything, but a lot of times when people use other developed countries as a barometer to which we measure Greece's performance on various issues [sometimes people do this indirectly too], then it's only fair to examine the other side of the coin. Paris' Stade de France (built for 1998 World Cup), is exactly like Athens' OAKA stadium: no regular tenant, and seldom fills to max capacity (for major events).

I do like the idea of creating it into a park like Munich's. I visited there in 2001. It doesn't look as fresh as it probably did in 1972. Some parts of it are a little in disrepair, but it still looks great, although I wouldn't say it's in better condition than OAKA. It is much older than [the renovated] OAKA, to be fair. Barcelona's Montjuic complex (1992 Olympics) is very nice, you can go and walk around. I don't remember paying an entrance fee. To be fair to OAKA: OAKA is much more extravagant than either Munich's or Barcelona's. Munich's, especially, is easier to maintain. The grass pretty much waters itself, due to Germany's temperate wet climate, and Munich's Olympic Park doesn't have the extensive grounds like OAKA does, with covered walkways, pools, sculptures (like OAKA's Wall of Nations), and other decorative features like OAKA has, so Munich's much easier to maintain.

I think at the time (1997-2004), amidst the preparation controversies and ATHOC's initial plans that didn't intend for a major renovation of the OAKA, we were all desperate [and by "we", I mean urban planning enthusiasts like all of us here at SSC HA] for any kind of renovation. And then came Santiago Calatrava who saved the day. I don't think, however, we realized just what an amazing complex Calatrava created. I think we were all more concerned with saving Greece from embarassment, and we nitpicked at details like the choice to use gravel instead of grass (which was actually a very wise decision, IMO), but we failed to realize that Calatrava truly delivered a very very good complex, that -at its time in 2004- was one of the best -if not the best- Olympic complexes ever built. I don't know anything about Sydney's, so I can't say how it compares...but I have to say I like OAKA better than other Olympic complexes I have visited from other relatively recent host cities (1972 and later). OAKA looked great when I went there in 2004 to watch some Olympic events, and it certainly looked great on TV.