Why the Olympic Park building site has become London's hot new tourist attraction

By SARAH GORDON


Accessible to all: The Greenway skirts around the Olympic Park


Building sites are not generally places that attract day-trippers but then the 2012 Olympic Park has more potential than your average development.

Indeed, so popular is the work in progress proving that around 110,000 curious visitors have already descended on London's east end to have a nose around.

On a sunny autumn afternoon, I joined a few of them - and some 10,000 men in hard hats - at what is turning out to be the capital's unlikely new tourist attraction...

Pulling into Pudding Mill Station on the Docklands Light Railway, it is hard to avoid the Olympic Park, the train practically hovers right over the site.

The raised line that leads from central London out to Stratford in the east is the kind of route a tourist bus would charge a fortune to ride, but for the price of a commuter train ticket you can fly right by the stadium and venues in all their glory.

However, I have been told I can enjoy an even better view with a quick walk to the foot and cycle path known as the Greenway - a once-neglected passage considered far too dangerous to venture down but now revamped thanks to a wave of the Olympic wand.

The four-and-a-half mile route cuts across east London and borders the building site is currently Olympic Park, offering some great vantage points from which to see the new structures come to life.

Known as the View Tube, the main lookout has been made all the more pleasant by a community-run cafe located in a bright green building made from recycled shipping containers - these are to be known as the 'Green Games' after all.


Tube with a view: The cafe commands great views over the ray-like Aquatic Centre


Groups touring The Greenway often descend on the cafe for tea and cakes


It is not unusual to see groups on Blue Badge guided tours around the outskirts of the site making a quick pitstop en masse at the cafe to enjoy bargain bacon butties and homemade cakes.

Nor is it surprising to see a gaggle of schoolchildren being shepherded into the View Tube building and the classroom upstairs which has been designed to host and inspire younger visitors.

I'm surprised that even on a weekday there seems to be a steady trickle of locals and visitors dropping in to enjoy a coffee with a view - I even spotted the odd business meeting taking place.

For the adventurous who want to explore further afield, bikes are for hire for a wallet-friendly £5, enabling you to take yourself off around the circumference of the Park and down the length of The Greenway with its unparalleled views of London's City skyline.


You're part of it: The colourful buses are designed to get everybody involved in the build-up to the games


But if you really want a dose of Olympic fever, there is no better way to join the excitement than with a free bus tour inside the hallowed fences of the Park.

The trips take place daily but are so popular that you have to book three to four months in advance (book now if you want to see it in spring) to even have a hope of setting foot inside London's ultimate sports venue before 2012.

But it is well worth the long waiting list and stringent security checks. As I pass by the sweeping roof of the velodrome - everybody's favourite building - and the wibbly, tent-like basketball arena, it is fascinating to hear the thought process behind each decision and the unusual history of the area.

How poetic that the Park is being built on what was once a dumping ground for WW2 rubble and the site where the running track from the 1948 Olympics is buried.

While I can't get out of the vehicle for safety reasons ('Olympic rubble crushes visitor' is not among the headlines the organisers want to create), I'm as close to the action as it is possible to be ahead of the official opening.

And there is something truly exciting about seeing the Park mid-transformation - it feels like a VIP-style sneak peek behind the scenes with giant steel rods rushed past us and bulky items lurking mysteriously under tarpaulins.


Contrasts: The wibbly Basketball Arena has been likened to a giant mattress while the wooden cladding is almost finished on the elegant Velodrome behind


A surprising number of structures look almost finished from the outside. Some are temporary and others are purposefully designed so that they can be converted into something else once the games are over.

The enormous media centre has had cooling systems built on the outside, so that once the TV cameras have gone, they can be removed easily and the building put to good use in other ways.

The Aquatics Centre and Stadium have extra seating that can be detached to make them smaller and the Basketball Arena can be taken down and set up in another part of the UK that needs a sports venue.

Three waterways criss-cross the Park and the banks - currently covered in orange fencing to protect new plants - are being designed to create picnic spots for the visiting masses.

And organisers have worked with the University of Sheffield to choose just the right wildflowers for the meadow outside the Stadium so they bloom an appropriate gold colour in the month of August.


Boomtime: The area is experiencing a renaissance as visitors take the opportunity to explore nearby walkways


But it's not just the pretty touches that make the site so special, the idea of creating a legacy - so intrinsic to London's successful bid - has come to life in a myriad of unusual ways.

As well as the 4,000 trees being planted, a 2,000-pupil school is also being built just behind the Olympic Village so that when it is turned into a residential area in 2013 there is already a community feel.

The soil of the once-industrial site has been removed and cleaned before being built on, to rid it of the poisonous asbestos and chemicals that had seeped into the ground and an apprentice centre has been set up to train young people in the building and construction trade.

Seeing the Park now, there is a real sense of seeing the power of regeneration in action. Visitors leave walking that little bit taller, that little bit prouder, and local children are full of bubbling, excited chatter.

As for me, I'm heading straight home to apply for 2012 tickets online. There's no way I'm missing out on this party.


Travel Facts

To find out more about the Olympic Games and register for tickets visit www.london2012.com

To book a bus tour, call the Olympic Delivery Authority on 0300 2012 001. The line is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Remember, photo identification is needed to enter the Olympic Park.


source :dailymail