Handover of London Olympic Park begins as site is transformed
The handover of the Olympic Park has begun, with the site being transformed from a competition venue after London 2012.
Last Updated: 23/10/12 4:27pm
The phased handover of venues, spaces and responsibilities from the London 2012 organisers to the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will enable the venue in Stratford, east London, to be changed into its future use as a sporting, residential and community location.
It is now the LLDC who are in operational control of the Olympic Park, including areas such as perimeter security, logistics operations, access control and associated areas.
A £292 million construction project is set to take place at the site, which is due to open in phases as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from July next year.
It is hoped that the entire Park should be open by spring 2014.
The velodrome, aquatics centre and the basketball arena have now been handed over to LLDC.
In November, the copper box, where the handball and goalball competitions were held during the Games, will also be handed over.
London 2012 have said that the Olympic stadium and press and broadcast centres will be handed over in December.
New community
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), having been in charge of the Olympic build, is set to take over the Olympic village from London 2012.
This is to enable a large-scale retrofitting programme to get started, transforming the 2,818 apartments and houses into a new community called East Village.
Dennis Hone, the ODA chief executive and the LLDC's interim chief executive, said: "Once the overlay and games-time elements are removed, we will start to deconstruct the temporary venues, adapt permanent venues for future use, reshape the landscape and retrofit the village into a new community for London.
"This will take some time, but the wait will be worth it. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be a fantastic new place to live, work and visit and enjoy.
"This really is an opportunity to create a legacy of the type we have never seen before."
Lord Coe, London 2012 chairman, added: "We began our work straight after the games to transform the venues, parklands and facilities in the Olympic Park to ensure generations to come will benefit from a golden summer.
"I congratulate my team for taking out all the temporary structures so quickly so that the job of transformation continues quickly."
