Handball Arena Becomes Third Olympic Park Completion
May 13, 2011
The UK’s minister for sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson has said construction work of the Olympic Park in east London is now 83 per cent complete following the completion of the handball arena.
The arena is the third in the Olympic Park grounds to have been completed and will seat 7,000 people. The venue is due to become a multi-use sports centre for athletics training and community use after the 2012 Games.
The basketball venue is likely to be the next to be completed and the 12,000-seat venue will also stage wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the final stages of the handball competition, billed as one of the largest temporary venues built for any Olympics.
The 6,000-seat velodrome was also unveiled in February, while the last piece of turf on the stadium’s field was laid in March.
The public sector funding package for the Games has stayed at £9.3bn (US$15.1bn), however, the estimated costs for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), in charge of Olympic building and infrastructure, has been cut by £35m ($56.9m) to £7.27bn ($11.82bn).
Robertson said: “We continue to seek value for money and cost savings in our day-to-day running of the project.”