Olympic access

“You’re part of it” exclaim the gaudy multicoloured hoardings that encircle the Olympic Park’s perimeter fence. All very well, but after last month’s ticketing fiasco, I sure didn’t feel like it.

However, while the rest of the Figs squabbled over a corporate cast-off ticket to the Greco Roman Wrestling Preliminary Rounds, I could at least console myself with a tour of the venue. And this wasn’t any old tour. Cast aside any thoughts of wannabe kids’ TV presenters blurting banalities about bygone Olympic glories, my guide had one of the most interesting jobs in the world.

Sarah Weir is Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy for the 2012 Games, a job title that does exactly what it says on the tin. She invited two Figs down to Stratford for a behind-the-scenes tour, and somehow I made it through our very own overly complicated ballot procedure.

Formerly Executive Director at Arts Council England, it’s no wonder her strategy was as simple as it was wise; “to make arts and culture part of the park, not added on to the park.” So while Anish Kapoor’s £22 million, 115 metre ‘Orbit’ will grab all the headlines, Sarah’s remit stretches way beyond showpiece decorations.

She’s managed the introduction of over 300,000 plant species, widened the River Lea to create an central water feature, commissioned countless artworks, run poetry competitions for local schoolchildren, overseen architectural details on all of the big name buildings and even dealt with the cultural implications of the odd compulsory purchase. In one particularly PR-able example the Olympic Delivery Authority built a glossy new home overlooking the park for Forman & Field, a traditional East End fish smokery whose previous home was somewhere near the long jump pit.

Our tour takes us from the main stadium to the Velodrome and back, past the already iconic ‘Butterfly’ aquatics arena, basketball stadium, athletes’ village, mindbogglingly enormous media centre (big enough to fit the HSBC tower in), a vast power station and all manner of soon-to-be parkland. I’ve driven past the site plenty of times but inside scale of it really hits home. It’s huge.

It’s undoubtedly an epic operation, but will it all be in vain? Believe some sections of the press and by 2015 this park will be a desolate wasteland populated only by third division football fans and the occasional sheepish-looking property speculator. Unsurprisingly, Sarah has other ideas. “Every aspect of this project has been built with the future in mind,” she asserts. She’s pointing at a new primary school built on site, so it’s hard to argue, but seeing this new landscape evolve instills confidence that it won’t be another white elephant.

From the giant new Westfield Centre (employing at least 25 percent local residents) to the “upcycled” seating in the public viewing gallery (made from obsolete sections of the perimeter fence), this is a million miles away from the schadenfreude-fueled tabloid perception of another Great British cock-up. Stratford 2012 may not have the superpower braggadocio of Beijing 2008, but this is a meticulously managed mega-project with a genuine community focus and admirable sustainability credentials. It’s just a shame none of us are going.

-- Joe Ryrie