Construction Topic - Can The Olympic Stadium of the 2012 London Games Be Converted?

When hosting cities put on the Olympic Games, they often have left incredible facilities that go unused, however if things are properly planned in advance this doesn't need to happen. Unfortunately, in hindsight it has. In reviewing the 2012 Olympic Games in London a huge stadium and facilities will be built, but it looks as if it may be torn down afterwards and rebuilt on the same footprint to be later used for soccer, which is a major national sport of course in England.

One concept is to elevate the stands and add additional tiers of seats - more rows and boxes, etc. My acquaintance there in England explained to me that: "This was discussed at length at the start of the design process but football was rejected at that time as being a potential post games occupant. As such the stadium was never designed with movable stands in mind and cannot be retro fitted, without considerable additional expense, to accommodate such a solution as is available at the Stade de France in Paris."

Olympics 2012

Indeed, now that's a problem, a real waste, well maybe they could dig down another layer for the future soccer field, maybe after this is all completed? Or here is a an interesting idea; maybe we can invent a new sport? Ha ha ha.

Either way, that facility must not remain unoccupied and to tear down a stadium that cost 10s of billions to construct is unthinkable, that level of waste is unacceptable, especially now when the population is paying for the economic crisis, one they were not necessarily party to creating. Besides that think of the destruction of history, after all, the Olympic Games are where human history is often made! Still, my acquaintance has noted some of the other challenges with converting the stadium to soccer (Football in England's vocabulary).

When clubs are relegated from the Premier League to the Championship attendance levels can drop considerably as the standard of football on offer is significantly reduced. A lot of 'fair weather' fans disappear from regular attendance and only the hard core regulars remain. In addition West Ham has always been situated in one of the most deprived areas of London and as such have always been affected by prevailing economic conditions.

No one said such a challenge was going to be easy to overcome, but that doesn't mean it cannot be conquered. And if the area changes its economic standing through proper re-development, perhaps the stadium and surrounding facilities could become an anchor of sorts to further economic growth moving forward.

However, if the architects, planners, and construction strategies are in place, these things can be worked out in advance, if not, history will likely repeat in England, with unused facilities slowly deteriorating into real estate waste! Please consider all this.

Construction Topic - Can The Olympic Stadium of the 2012 London Games Be Converted?