Work starts on 2012 media centre

The first earthworks within the Olympic park site started this week on the site of what will be the media centre in 2012.

Excavation of the site, in the north west of the Olympic park, will involve stripping 8500 cubic metres of fertile top soil which will be stored and re-used in the landscaping of the park.

The Olympic Delivery Authority aims to have the majority of the Olympic park cleared and cleaned by next summer, one of ten milestones announced by the ODA to be achieved by the 2008 Beijing Games.

More than 80,000 cubic metres of low quality soil, dug up from the media centre site, will be used to raise ground levels and prepare the site for the construction of the aquatics centre in 2008.

ODA chief executive David Higgins said: “This is a very demanding programme but we continue to make significant progress in clearing the Olympic park.

“The start of the first earthworks is another key milestone in the transformation of the area as we create one of the largest new urban parks in Europe for 150 years.”

During the 2012 Games the media centre will provide 24-hour facilities to around 20,000 domestic and international broadcasters, wire services, print journalists and photographers.

It is as yet unclear what the 1.3m sq ft of space will be used for after the Games.