Legacy Company Opens Bidding for Multi-purpose Olympic Stadium

The Olympic Park Legacy Company today formally invited bids from interested parties to bring a range of exciting events to the Olympic Stadium.

The Stadium will become the new national stadium for athletics and has already been chosen to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships. The Legacy Company will build on that success by opening up the venue to a full array of sporting, cultural and commercial events.

Bids to use the 60,000 seat multi-purpose venue are due back in March 2012. The Legacy Company is seeking to deliver a commercially viable combination of uses that achieves both year round community access and wider public benefits.

The Legacy Company plans to appoint the winning bidders in May 2012 and remains on track to reopen the venue in 2014.

The Stadium will be retained by the Legacy Company as a public asset. It is proposed that the Legacy Company will form a joint venture with the London Borough of Newham to operate the Stadium and help maximise community benefits around local employment, sport and healthy living.

Newham have offered an investment of up to £40m towards the cost of transforming the Stadium to its legacy configuration in order to secure legacy benefits for the borough.

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said:

"The Olympic Stadium will be a new national stadium for athletics and a multi-purpose venue that can host a full array of sporting, cultural and commercial events in one of the most exciting destinations in the world.

"Having already secured the 2017 World Athletics Championships, now is the time for bidders to come forward to further enhance the Stadium’s legacy.

"Plans for the Olympic Park are more advanced than any other host city and we are maintaining that pace by securing operators, tenants and events for all our venues before the Games have even started."

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:

"We are already securing a lasting legacy for London, with our fantastic Olympic Stadium set to become not only one of the world's premier destinations for sports, hosting the World Athletics Championships in 2017, but also a first class hub for culture and entertainment. Opening up the bidding to other interested parties now shows just how far ahead we are in planning a great future for east London long after the Games have left town."

Minister for Sport and Olympics Hugh Robertson said:

"The Government is committed to securing a legacy from the Olympic Stadium, and wants to see it re-opening in 2014. With the 2017 World Athletics Championships bid won athletics will be at the heart of a multi-purpose venue that will also be a great asset to the local community. The Olympic stadium is an iconic venue and I am sure that it will attract interesting and exciting bids for its future use."

As the new national athletics venue it will host major athletics events including the London Diamond League meeting that will transfer from Crystal Palace. It will also be of a global standard to rival athletics venues around the world and be capable of hosting top level international competitions.

Interested parties can bid to stage other events at the Stadium for a maximum term of 99 years.

They must register online by 30 January in order to gain access to the Stadium Deal room which will contain technical and legal documentation essential to any bid.

For more information, visit: www.legacycompany.co.uk/stadium.

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