Demolition Begins for London Olympic Park

(ATR) The first wave of demolition work on the Olympic Park for London 2012 Games has started.

The derelict sports facility on Eton Manor to the north of the site is being demolished to make way for a new sports center that will become a major training facility for the Olympics.

In Olympic mode, the venue will include four 50m swimming pools, tennis courts and a training center for all gymnastics disciplines. The facility also hosts tennis and archery at the Paralympic Games

Part of the Wembley Stadium running track used for the 1948 London Olympics was relocated to Eton Manor's sports club and is buried underneath the site.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for developing the infrastructure for 2012, is also planning to build two new land bridges in the north of the park to better connect Eton Manor with the surrounding area.

Sir Roy McNulty, acting chairman of the ODA, said: "We will be preserving the proud sporting heritage of this area by knocking down crumbling, disused facilities and replacing them with state-of-the-art sporting venues that will be at the heart of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games."

In its legacy mode, the Eton Manor site will provide an indoor and outdoor tennis and hockey center. The road cycle circuit and mountain biking, part of the Velopark, will extend into the site.

Construction of the Eton Manor sports facility starts in 2009 in line with the ODA's venue construction program.

Reported from the U.K. by Mark Bisson.

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