The International Olympic Committee got an overhead view of the planned central area for the 2012 Olympics on Thursday.
From a specially constructed viewing platform on the 22nd floor of a retirement home, the IOC’s evaluation commission viewed the 200ha proposed Olympic Park in Stratford, a largely run-down area of East London.
The misty backdrop features the towers of the Canary Wharf business district and the skyline of downtown London.
Coloured blimps floated above the planned sites for the Olympic stadium, village and indoor sports arenas. An aquatic centre and velodrome will be built regardless of the decision.
Bid officials said London was the only contending city which had the athletes’ village within the Olympic Park area. Every athlete would have a room at the village, with extra accommodation would be provided at the satellite venues for sailing and rowing.
British Olympic Association Chief Executive Simon Clegg said 50% of the athletes could walk to their competition venues.
”The whole of Olympic Park will be a secure area,” Clegg said.
”Therefore the Olympic village will get a higher level of security. I’ve lived in the last ten Olympic villages and I genuinely believe we’ve got a fantastic opportunity in London to create the best Olympic village of all time.”
The commission was then driven in cars through the 7,5km tunnel from Stratford to Kings Cross, in central London.
The tunnel was built as an extension to the Eurostar Channel Tunnel Rail link, which connects London with Paris and Brussels.
During the games, trains would take seven minutes to travel between Stratford and Kings Cross.
The commission was serenaded with a fanfare by the London Philharmonic Orchestra as it entered Stratford’s existing rail station before taking a short ride on the Underground subway — on a specially chartered Olympic-themed train.
London officials were keen to emphasise their readiness in a bid to make up ground on the favourite Paris.
On Thursday, agreements were signed to build housing, office, health and retail space in and around the planned Olympic precinct — regardless of the bid outcome.
When IOC officials visited the Millennium Dome — which has been idle since it closed on the last day of 2000 — bulldozers were busy starting work two weeks early on a 20 000-seat indoor arena to be built underneath the vast white canopy.
Owned by Meridian Delta, a consortium comprising the Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group and two partner companies, the Dome would feature gymnastics and basketball.
Anschutz, which donated $1-million to London’s Olympic bid, also plans to build a casino next door.
The commission split into three to view all the planned venues, including the under-construction Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon and Horse Guards Parade, which is overlooked by the offices of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Blair’s wife, Cherie, a bid ambassador, met with the group visiting the planned venues in central London. She’ll also take part in the meeting held at 10 Downing Street with Blair on Friday and the reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace later that night.
A full-size Royal Standard flag, usually reserved for state visits, is already flying over the palace.
New York, Madrid and Moscow are also contenders in addition to London and Paris. The IOC vote is July 6 in Singapore. – Sapa-AP