London Olympic Stadium legacy still not secure
Posted By Joe on December 21, 2011
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The Chairman of the Olympic Park Legacy Commission (OPLC), Andrew Altman, announced this week that the Olympic stadium is not reliant upon a football club taking up the lease for it to survive. Back in October, a deal in which West Ham Football Club were to take over the lease collapsed after an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, and a legal challenge over the bidding process from Tottenham Hotspur, who had also hoped to take up residency at the stadium.
Now, a rent-paying tenant is being sought, with the stadium to be kept in public ownership. The major upside to this agreement, for those of us who care about the legacy of the Olympic games in terms of athletics in this country, is that the debate over whether the track will be kept has become a moot point. Prospective tenants will bid on a stadium in a fit state for the purpose they intend to put it to; Tottenham Hotspur’s previous bid had been based on a plan to demolish much of the stadium, including the athletics track. The fact that this is no longer a tenable option means that Spurs are unlikely to lodge a new bid.
With bids to be coming in during the next few months before the March 23rd deadline, it is of course highly likely that the new tenants will be a football club. The stadium has annual running costs of £5million, and it is debatable whether anyone other than a Premiership or Championship football club will be able to cover these running costs. However, Altman warned this week that, while a football club seems the most obvious option, the stadium would be able to survive without them.
“We welcome football but it’s not solely dependent on football,” he said, “There are other combinations of other sports, concerts and activities that can also provide revenue.
“What we are going out for provides maximum flexibility for the public sector to make sure we return value for money. We are just looking to see how we can populate the calendar with as many things as we can that can be compatible and work together.”
Still, when the costs of running the stadium are taken into account, this seems more an attempt by Altman to stop West Ham from making a derisory bid and obtaining the 99 year lease at a knock down price due to lack of other bidders. He has suggested that there is interest from two Premiership rugby clubs, an American Football team and a cricket team. But the lack of interest from two of the three original bidders for the stadium, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, whose chairman Barry Hearn has confirmed that his club will not be making a bid.
It is certainly good news that the track will be kept. The OPLC has confirmed that 21 days per year will be put aside for athletics events at the stadium, adding credence to London’s promise of keeping athletics as the key focus of the stadium after the games. London’s successful bid for the World Athletics Championships was helped by the pledge to keep the track. However, for all the talk of a legacy in London winning the bidding process for the Olympic games, to have still not secured one for the Stadium as we head into Olympic year is an uncomfortable situation for the OPLC.
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