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Olympic Park to reopen as community hub
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is being redesigned into a large urban park that will be open to the public by spring 2014.
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has unveiled plans that will see the 560-acre East End site become a new visitor attraction and community park.
The park will combine parklands and waterways, sports and entertainment venues and new neighbourhoods.
It will comprise of two features the river valley in the north and a 50-acre urban landscape in the south will define the park.
The North Park will include a nature-themed community hub and playground. It will also house a multi-use arena, a 7,500-capacity indoor entertainment venue that will host a range of community events, along with a yearly programme sporting events and concerts.
Meanwhile, the South Plaza will sit between the Stadium, Aquatics Centre and the ArcelorMittal Orbit. Here visitors can take a walk down a tree-lined promenade, which will connect flexible spaces that can be used for various events.
The transformation has three main objectives: To clear Games-time structures including temporary venues, bridges, walkways and roads; to connect the park to the surrounding area with new roads, cycle and foot paths; and to complete permanent venues, bridges and parklands ready for residents' and visitors' everyday use.
The first large scale event will take place in the park next summer- a two day, world class festival of cycling.
The park will open in phases, with North Park being the first to re-open on 27 July 2013 - exactly one year after the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Andrew Altman, chief executive of the LLDC, said: "London's Olympic Legacy was rooted in the creation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - a place that will become one of the most thriving parts of London.
"The transformation will take the Park from an Olympic site, to a new piece of London that's owned and shaped by the community in and around it. Above all, the Park will create a place of practical benefit for the surrounding community - a place to take your children swimming at weekends, go to school, walk your dog or go to a festival in the summer."