London’s Olympic Park
It’s time for the 2012 Summer Olympics so we thought it seemed appropriate to look at the park in London that is hosting this year’s competition. London has taken what was previously industrial space and transformed it into 2.5 square kilometers of green space for the Olympics and visitors.
Make no mistake, this park has way more than a jogging path and a playground. It has eight separate venues, including an aquatics center, basketball arena, BMX track, water polo arena and a stadium. There’s also a large store selling Olympics gifts and souvenirs and multiple art installations.
One particularly neat feature is the “Obit,” the tallest art structure in Britain at 115 meters high. Its platform provides some pretty amazing views of London’s landscape. The Orbit has become one of London’s major new visitor destinations for the Olympics and beyond.
Just a few other fun facts about Olympic Park:
– 241,000 people have visited the Olympic Park since 2007.
– 46,000 people have worked on the Olympic Park and Village.
– 2.5sq km (246 hectares) in size – equivalent to Hyde Park.
– 1,000 picnic benches, 362 toilet blocks and almost 4,000 bins including recycling and composting bin.
– 8.35km of waterways in and around Park, with 30 new bridges built crossing roads, rail lines and rivers to link the site together.
– More than 4,000 trees, 74,000 plants, 60,000 bulbs and 350,000 wetlands plants planted – the largest planting project ever undertaken in the UK.
– 46,000 people have worked on the Olympic Park and Village.
– 2,000 newts relocated from Olympic Park to the Waterworks nature reserve.
– More than 90% of demolition materials from Olympic Park site recycled or reused.
Source: http://www.london2012.com