London considers recycling on an Olympic scale

A report published this week in the Guardian suggests that Olympic officials in London may be engaged in discussions with Olympic organizers in Chicago over the possible recycling of London’s main Olympic Stadium.

London will host the Olympics in 2012. Chicago is one of the leading cities with a bid to host the 2016 Games. As a result, the two cities are reportedly discussing the possibility of dismantling London’s Olympic Stadium and shipping it across the ocean to be reused.

As many as 55,000 seats from the 80,000 seat arena could be sent to Washington Park in order to expand and existing community arena from 7,500 seats to Olympic capacity.

As a result, the report indicates that London may change their construction plan for the arena and consider bolting it together rather than welding.

An Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) spokesman explained: “London 2012 is designed to be different with a significant amount of temporary infrastructure to ensure the Games leaves a sustainable legacy.

“It is early days and we have only held preliminary and very recent discussions with Chicago  - at their instigation -  covering some of the technical aspects of relocating so many seats, but it is obviously good news that there is already interest in re-using them.”

The spokesperson was very clear that no decision had been arrived at as of yet. He added: “We would be very happy to have the same discussions [about reuse] with any other bidding cities in the coming months.

“It is right that we should explore any opportunities that would recover some of the cost incurred by the lottery and public purse. We will also continue to explore options to relocate facilities within the UK as a priority wherever possible.”