The London Legacy Development Corporation has unveiled its plans for the opening of the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Over the next 18 months the Park will be transformed from an Olympic site into a brand new piece of the city, right in the heart of London’s East End. By spring 2014, the 560 acre Olympic Park will become an exciting new visitor destination and community park, unlike any other in the UK.
James Corner, the architect responsible for the elevated railway track in New York that is now the High Line urban park and the city's second most popular visitor attraction, said the south of the Olympic Park would offer Londoners a new kind of experience when it opened in spring 2014.
The new Park – which will begin to open its gates from July 2013 – will combine lush parklands and waterways, new neighbourhoods and world class sports and entertainment venues.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has already announced plans for the first large scale event to take place in the park next summer – a two day, world class festival of cycling.
The creation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be one of the biggest construction projects in Europe. The 18-month transformation programme marks its first phase, laying the foundations for further development across East London over the next 20 years.
“Within a year of the close of the 2012 Games, the Park will be ready to welcome not only another major sporting event, but also the thousands of residents and workers who will reap the benefits of this brand new district of the capital,” added the Mayor of London.
“The fantastic new sporting venues are only one part of the unfolding legacy story. The Park will help drive the growth London needs to steer it out of recession and on to long term prosperity.”