London Olympic Stadium Redevelopment | Stratford | 25-80,000 Capacity | Proposed

[Olympic Lad]

Originally Posted by .Adam

Well he's right... apart from the 4billion global audience viewers.

Haha, yeah, No one knows about the games do they...

[Mr_Andersonn]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

I am glad to have this confirmed. Also the way things are going nobody will even notice there is an Olympiad going on. Also it seems the only place in the internet that knows about London Olympiad is this forum. Bad luck.

I love that word "Olympiad"

[Aughton]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

I am glad to have this confirmed. Also the way things are going nobody will even notice there is an Olympiad going on. Also it seems the only place in the internet that knows about London Olympiad is this forum. Bad luck.

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

We really are struggling here - tickets sold out and the facilities completed on time and on budget.

It just seems unfair that we can never hope to compete with the famous success of the Athens games. But then how can we hope to live up to the standards set by the greatest games of the modern era?

[eddyk]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

I am glad to have this confirmed. Also the way things are going nobody will even notice there is an Olympiad going on. Also it seems the only place in the internet that knows about London Olympiad is this forum. Bad luck.

[Maderz]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

I am glad to have this confirmed. Also the way things are going nobody will even notice there is an Olympiad going on. Also it seems the only place in the internet that knows about London Olympiad is this forum. Bad luck.

Sorry, are you allowed on this forum? ...

[ayanamikun]

Originally Posted by Olympic Lad

You'll look fairly foolish won't you when the London games are more successful that any in the last decade!

I will. But we'll find out soon enough, won't we? Just pray it won't rain. See yea around chaps

[JimB]

Originally Posted by CF221

Athens' is one, if not the most sexy stadium ever built for the olympics. Simple and beautiful.

The stadium wasn't built for the Olympics.

It was already there.

They merely added a roof (a fantastic roof, admittedly) for the Olympics.

[JimB]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

I am glad to have this confirmed. Also the way things are going nobody will even notice there is an Olympiad going on. Also it seems the only place in the internet that knows about London Olympiad is this forum. Bad luck.

Bless!

You are an angry, little thing, aren't you?

[JimB]

Originally Posted by potiz81

Can you mention more than 1 or maybe 2 stadiums in whole Europe with such an often en extensive use for the last 30 years as the Olympic Stadium of Athens? Ignorance never is as good as knowledge...

As I've pointed out to you before, the fact that the stadium gets used isn't the whole story.

The truth is that, as the home stadium for two of Athens' football clubs, the Olympic stadium is, to all intents and purposes, a white elephant. On average, 65,000 of the 75,000 seats are empty for Panathinaikos games and nearly 70,000 seats are empty for AEK games.

Both clubs would be far better off with their own much smaller, much more atmospheric, football specific stadiums.

[ShakeyNZ]

Originally Posted by JimB

As I've pointed out to you before, the fact that the stadium gets used isn't the whole story.

The truth is that, as the home stadium for two of Athens' football clubs, the Olympic stadium is, to all intents and purposes, a white elephant. On average, 65,000 of the 75,000 seats are empty for Panathinaikos games and nearly 70,000 seats are empty for AEK games.

Both clubs would be far better off with their own much smaller, much more atmospheric, football specific stadiums.

Surely a separate argument there though I guess.

Of course alot of the maintenance of the Olympic Park isn't up to par, much of it to do with the Greek economy, but the Olympic Stadium certainly isn't an *Olympic white elephant*.
It's a stadium built in the 1980s, a beautiful but extremely simple concrete bowl. It wasn't built with the 2004 Olympics in mind at all. It was infact I guess the responsible option, using what was in effect a reasonably old stadium as the main stadium of the 2004 Olympic bid.
Yes, they built a spanking new pretty roof, but the fact remains, it's still a pretty basic stadium that lies under it.
To be honest, the same can be said for alot of the venues on the AOSC. Many of those venues are ones which Athens has had for some time, not to mention a few of the ones in the city fringes, such as the Peace and Friendship stadium out in the Faliro coastal zone, an arena built in the mid 80s also.
Even the main arena, the Olympic Indoor Hall, was opened in the mid 90s, the Olympic Aquatic Centre for the 91 Med Games, The Olympic Veledrome - also for the 91 Med Games.

The real white elephants of Athens do lie out in the old airport site, those are definitely a problem.
But I don't think too much can be said about the Olympic Park area. As an Olympic park it had to be tarted up abit, and they have let themselves down in the general upkeep of them for sure.
As I said, I've been there and the graffiti is troubling and to me personally quite shocking, but alot of those venues are quite old.

Maybe it is the problem with the concept of a Sports Park. The idea at the time is fantastic, and the concept of having an area full of sports venues together is great, but there is always the potential for it to be abit of a ghost town. Sydney's Olympic Park out Homebush is wonderful, but walking through it last May, it did have the element of *should I really be here?*, which I got from Athens.
The contrast was the fully established Montjuic in Barcelona, but I guess a rare situation where you are able to plonk a bunch of great sports venues in an already established urban area (helped by the fact that the main stadium is already there).

I think London will be a success in terms of its park legacy, its just a different way of doing things I suppose.

[JimB]

Originally Posted by ShakeyNZ

Surely a separate argument there though I guess.

Of course alot of the maintenance of the Olympic Park isn't up to par, much of it to do with the Greek economy, but the Olympic Stadium certainly isn't an *Olympic white elephant*.
It's a stadium built in the 1980s, a beautiful but extremely simple concrete bowl. It wasn't built with the 2004 Olympics in mind at all. It was infact I guess the responsible option, using what was in effect a reasonably old stadium as the main stadium of the 2004 Olympic bid.
Yes, they built a spanking new pretty roof, but the fact remains, it's still a pretty basic stadium that lies under it.
To be honest, the same can be said for alot of the venues on the AOSC. Many of those venues are ones which Athens has had for some time, not to mention a few of the ones in the city fringes, such as the Peace and Friendship stadium out in the Faliro coastal zone, an arena built in the mid 80s also.
Even the main arena, the Olympic Indoor Hall, was opened in the mid 90s, the Olympic Aquatic Centre for the 91 Med Games, The Olympic Veledrome - also for the 91 Med Games.

The real white elephants of Athens do lie out in the old airport site, those are definitely a problem.
But I don't think too much can be said about the Olympic Park area. As an Olympic park it had to be tarted up abit, and they have let themselves down in the general upkeep of them for sure.
As I said, I've been there and the graffiti is troubling and to me personally quite shocking, but alot of those venues are quite old.

Maybe it is the problem with the concept of a Sports Park. The idea at the time is fantastic, and the concept of having an area full of sports venues together is great, but there is always the potential for it to be abit of a ghost town. Sydney's Olympic Park out Homebush is wonderful, but walking through it last May, it did have the element of *should I really be here?*, which I got from Athens.
The contrast was the fully established Montjuic in Barcelona, but I guess a rare situation where you are able to plonk a bunch of great sports venues in an already established urban area (helped by the fact that the main stadium is already there).

I think London will be a success in terms of its park legacy, its just a different way of doing things I suppose.

I agree with most of that.

Re the discussion with potiz81, though, my point is simply that he (she?) has persistently cited the stadium's use by Panathinaikos and AEK Athens as proof that it isn't a white elephant. I've merely responded to that specific point. I don't believe that a 75K stadium can be justified as a club football stadium when the two clubs that use it get average crowds of 10K and 6K and would be infinitely better off with their own, far smaller, football specific stadiums.

[potiz81]

Originally Posted by JimB

I agree with most of that.

Re the discussion with potiz81, though, my point is simply that he (she?)

He

Originally Posted by JimB

has persistently cited the stadium's use by Panathinaikos and AEK Athens as proof that it isn't a white elephant.

Well, in my point of view, a white elephant is a stadium built from zero just to host an event for some days, and after that remains without any use. This was not the case in Athens Olympic Stadium.

It was built back in 80's to host big events. Athens (and Greece), as every country, needs a big stadium for a variety of events, right? But it doesnt mean that every city with a stadium of this size can host daily or even monthly events using the total of its capacity.

Much later, this stadium became the flagship of Athens 1996 and 2004 bids. But all these years, before and after the Olympics, it served as the host stadium of numerous worldclass events: Champions League Finals, IAAF World Championships, various European Athletics Championships, Mediterranean Games, World Rally Championships and countless concerts of greek and international artists. The list with all the sold-out events which took place there is huge. As I told before, I dont think that any other olympic stadium in any other country can host daily sold-out events. But for sure, every country needs a big stadium to host such events when it needs. And yes, it is also the home of 2 major Super League football clubs. I guess London has other stadiums of big capacity to host such events. Greece's one is the Olympic stadium in Athens and you can hardly find a place which hosted such a variety of really world class events, if you look the olympic stadiums list of previous Olympic Games.

On the other hand, some stadiums in Hellenikon Complex are not in use, thats true and it is really sad. But saying that main Olympic stadium itself is a white elephant...no.

[Knitemplar]

[RobH]

This is a good time to raise this point too.....white elephant is a term that's very often misused.

Something that costs money or requires ongoing subsidy is not by definition a white elephant. The Olympic Park velodrome, at lest until it gains a naming rights deal, will be subsidised. But it will be used by elite athletes and cyclists and will be something worth subsidising for what it gives to the area and to British cycling. It's whether you believe something to be worth subsidising which determines whether it's a white elephant or not.

Athens' stadium might not get big crowds often and may be too big for what the City generally requires, but if it's used regularly enough and the city feels it gains more from it than it gives to it, then fair enough. If that's the case, it isn't a white elephant.

[Butcher]

Originally Posted by eddyk

Holy fuck.... Butcher!


Not seen you post in... forever.

Eddyk!!!! lol I still hang around and post occasionally.

[flare]

Originally Posted by potiz81

Much later, this stadium became the flagship of Athens 1996 and 2004 bids. But all these years, before and after the Olympics, it served as the host stadium of numerous worldclass events: Champions League Finals, IAAF World Championships, various European Athletics Championships, Mediterranean Games, World Rally Championships and countless concerts of greek and international artists. The list with all the sold-out events which took place there is huge. As I told before, I dont think that any other olympic stadium in any other country can host daily sold-out events. .

Out of interest, why don't the Greek football team play there?

[d4mo85]

Christ, don't you lot have something more interesting and productive to talk about?

You're going round in circles, arguing your points like it has some sort of effect on London's Olympic stadium. What's built is built, what's spent is spent - we know the stadium will be given major use after the Olympics and that's all that matters. You can't claw back money spent all of the time, and just because the Greeks probably haven't, has no bearing on what happens here in the UK or anywhere else for that matter. Besides, their economy undoubtedly benefited from the Olympics and far surpassed the money spent on the Stadia anyway, so you could say it was a good investment - especially as the stadium still hosts events so it's hardly a white elephant.

[MartinLeRoy]

The model I've been making for ages on sketchup got an update today.
Gives you an idea of what it'll look like decked out in purple.

[DarJoLe]

I doubt it will have pictograms of sports other than athletics. Love it though.

[southseasteve]

Wow, that's stunning. Well done. I wonder if they will leave it open between the lower bowl and the 'temporary' tier. Or whether it will be dressed or something?