Passage 4 Olympic Stadium Is for Sale
奧運(yùn)場(chǎng)館打包待售 《衛(wèi)報(bào)》
[00:01]The Guardian has learned that 55,000 seats from London's 80,000-seat arena
[00:09]could be transported to Washington Park in the Illinois city
[00:14]and used to enlarge a planned, 7,500-capacity community arena
[00:20]into Chicago's main Olympic stadium.
[00:25]The tactic of recycling the Olympic stadium has been billed
[00:29]as the first step in a new approach to the games,
[00:33]which could become more like a travelling circus to keep costs down
[00:38]and allow poorer countries to play host.
[00:41]The plan could also raise tens of millions of pounds
[00:45]to help offset the rising costs of the London games
[00:49]which have quadrupled to 9.3bn.
[00:55]The cost of the main stadium has already risen from 280m to 496m.
[01:07]A spokesman for London's Olympic Delivery Authority said:
[01:11]"It is right that we should explore any opportunities that
[01:16]would recoup some of the cost incurred by the lottery and the public purse."
[01:23]David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA,
[01:28]last week began talks with his counterpart in Chicago
[01:32]and said he is willing to have the same discussions
[01:36]with other bidding cities in the coming months.
[01:40]London's deal with Chicago has become a possibility
[01:43]because both cities have decided to build main stadiums
[01:48]with small numbers of permanent seats
[01:51]while erecting giant seating scaffolds for the two weeks of the competition.
[01:57]Talks have focused on how London's stadium might be bolted
[02:02]rather than welded together,
[02:05]ensuring the materials used allow it to function properly in another country
[02:10]and climate, and how sections might fit on a cargo ship. Doug Arnott,
[02:17]director of sports and operations at Chicago 2016 says:
[02:23]"We have had preliminary discussions about what London's stadium design team
[02:29]are planning and how it might fit in.
[02:33]This is to do with the responsible use of materials
[02:37]and trying to avoid leaving infrastructure that will burden a city."
[02:43]Chicago could include the plan to reuse London's stadium in its bid documents
[02:50]which will be presented to the International Olympic Committee later this year.
[02:56]A spokesman for the ODA said:
[03:00]"We have only held preliminary and very recent discussions with Chicago
[03:05]at their instigation-covering some of the technical aspects
[03:11]of relocating so many seats, but it is obviously good news
[03:15]that there is already interest in re-using them.
[03:19]We will also continue to explore options to relocate facilities
[03:24]within the UK as a priority wherever possible."
[03:29]HOK Sport, architects of London's Olympic stadium,
[03:35]have deliberately designed the arena as a kit in part.
[03:40]A permanent concrete bowl of 25,000 seats will remain in place for athletics,
[03:48]lower league football and rugby, but every other component could be sold on.
[03:54]Chicago has made staging a low-impact games a core part of its bid.
[04:01]It is using several existing arenas, including Soldier Field
[04:07]where the Chicago Bears NFL team play,
[04:10]and the Chicago Bulls' basketball arena will host gymnastics and basketball.
[04:16]"Chicago thinks this would be a coup for their bid,
[04:20]and would show they are putting their money
[04:22]where their mouth is on their commitment to sustainability," said a source.
