Basic HTML Version
12
The Olympic Park closed after the
Games and work began to create the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The top of the park, the Velodrome
end, is scheduled to open on 27 July
2013, exactly one year after the
opening ceremony. The bottom or
southern half of the park with the
Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre
and the Orbit Tower is due to open
at Easter 2014. You might be both
surprised and a bit disappointed that
it will take so long but they have a big
old job on their hands.
The Basketball and Water Polo Arenas
and the Aquatics Centre grandstand
seating will go. The Copper Box will be
a public arena and the Velodrome, BMX
Track and Paralympic tennis courts will
form part of a new sports complex. Some
of the bridges built across the Bow Back
Waters criss-crossing the park will be
removed and the huge asphalt walkway
running the whole length of the park and
opening into a vast plaza at the southern
end by the Olympic Stadium to allow
huge numbers of people to move about
quickly and safely will be pulled up.
The gorgeous landscaping put in place
for the Games including the 2012
Gardens following the Waterworks
River for half a mile will stay, so too the
wildflower meadows and the wetlands.
But in place of the great asphalt runway
through the park new landscaping,
including 2000 trees, will be planted
and a visitor centre and some permanent
cafés will be built.
British landscape architect James Corner
whose company Field Operations
designed New York’s High Line Park on
the L Train viaduct and the Freshkills
Park on Staten Island is tasked with
With the
Olympic Legacy Pick & Mix
Tour
you can get a date safely booked in
with us now for your 2013 programme
knowing you’ll be giving your members
a walk in the Olympic Park with a great
guide, morning coffee and lunch and
a flight on the cable car that links two
Olympic venues, The O
2
and ExCel in
the Royal Docks, but much nearer the
time you can make the final decision on
what to include in your day out. Keep the
cable car flight in and add something else
or replace it with a new option. Leave
people to buy their own lunch (once the
new cafés are up and running) and use
the money instead for a cruise or put it
towards a ticket for the Orbit (tickets
were £15.00 during the Games). It’s up
to you, but for now budget £25.00 and
reserve a date for your group.
We will keep you up to date with
new options (and any changes to park
opening schedules) in each month’s issue
of our online magazine
The Kettle
and,
of course, we’ll write by old-fashioned
Royal Mail to all organisers who have
reserved a date with the list of pick &
mix options as they become available.
replacing the asphalt. He’s planning
a series of pleasure gardens that
will function as
outdoor rooms
for
events such as concerts and theatrical
performances. The
rooms
will each
lead off from a tree-lined promenade
and will range in size from a huge lawn
for 20,000 people to smaller spaces for
around 100 people. One will be a water
labyrinth where the jets will reconfigure
as you run through them!
At the southern end of the park,
scheduled to open at Easter 2014, there
will be a visitor centre with a large café
and booths to buy tickets for concerts
and trips up the Orbit which stays as a
permanent feature. We are really looking
forward to taking groups for a walk in
the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
from August 2013 – the North part that is
- the Velodrome end and the whole park
after Easter 2014.
If you can hold on for further news
please do so (keep reading
The Kettle
)
but if you need to plan your complete
2013 programme you can book our pick
& mix Olympic Legacy Tour now for
dates from August 2013. Your trip will
include a walk in the park, morning
coffee and lunch together as a group and
a single flight on the Thames Cable Car.
The cost of this tour with the coffee and
lunch package and cable car flight will
be £25.00 but as new options become
possible you can quite literally pick
and mix. The final list of options might
include going inside the magnificent
Aquatics Centre for the cost of a
spectator ticket for the public gallery, a
trip up the Orbit (both from Easter 2014),
a tour of the Olympic Stadium (probably
not before August 2014) and maybe even
a cruise through the park.
The tour will run 10.30am to 4.45pm
or you can choose a midday start.
This tour is available every day from
1 August 2013.
Adults & Seniors: £25.00
Coach Mileage: 10
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000
The Olympic Legacy Tour