Another day and another gigantic bill faces the British taxpayer as the Government called off protracted buyout talks with West Ham United for the Olympic site. It means as first feared that the Stratford Stadium will become little more than an aging monument, no legacy and a whole bagful of regrets in a few years times. The bottom line is very few people care for Athletics in this country to warrant a stadium of such a size, in the post Olympic era.
The official word from Hugh Robertson is that the all the impending legal disputes, with regards to the potential acquisition of the stadium, had threatened to put the Olympic Legacy at risk. I maybe alone in thinking this but does anyone see the word ‘legacy’ as the simple way to justify the extortionate price this who event has cost. It is certainly the word that West Ham’s Karren Brady happily throws into every other sentence to ensure that the club’s intentions are looked on favourably. The fact remains that the decision to turn down West Ham’s bid has destroyed any hope of making this stadium a relative success and to ensure it doesn’t become little more than a relic.
Sentiment has paid far too big a price in the decision of what to do with this stadium. While Tottenham’s proposal to destroy the site in favour of a new state of the art stadium was met with such disdain; their promise to redevelop Crystal Palace and turn it into a world class Athletics arena for future events and meetings would certainly have fulfilled the legacy brief.
Surely the whole purpose of a legacy was to ensure that budding athletes inspired by the Olympics will have the facilities in order to hone their skills, so why does this have to take place at the Stratford Stadium? Even with West Ham’s promises to ensure that the legacy is maintained, it appears it is not enough as the Olympic committee desperately trying to secure future events after 2012, as probably a way of appeasing the Government officials seething at the cost of the event.
So where do we go from here? Apparently the committee will be seeking tenants for the stadium and West Ham have put their name in the ring, much to the pleasure of Hugh Robertson. I am not a Hammers fan myself, but this sounds a ridiculous situation where the football club will simply have no hold over the stadium, or be in a position to create an identity for themselves at the site.
The club will be selling out big time, for the sake of playing in a soulless stadium. Maybe the Hammers would have been better off standing their ground here and refusing to bow down to the new terms on offer. The fact remains that due to Tottenham’s proposal being thrown out of the water that West Ham held the only hope of this stadium and surrounds being a profitable venture. The club should use that knowledge in their bargaining, to ensure this Olympic Stadium doesn’t become the relic I fear it will prove to be.
Written by Matt C for FootballFancast.com.
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What an utter waste of bandwidth. A bunch of opinions and assertions with nothing to back them up. So knocking down a stadium that will eventually have cost nearly £600m to build is the better option? Nonsensical. And being a tenant of a municipal facility doesn’t seem to hold back many of the biggest football teams on mainland Europe. So there is no argument here, really. West Ham successfully responded to the tender document and the reason this new situation has emerged is nothing to do with the quality or validity of that bid but the political difficulties created by the scorned would be bride from North London.
‘I am not a west ham fan’ Mmmm! I would have never guessed. I bet you still believe that Tevez was illegible to play for us. You are a spuds or orient fan and I claim my fiver. T*sspot!