Sydney Olympic Park
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Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located in the suburb of Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It was built for the 2000 Olympics and continues to be used for sporting and cultural events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Sydney Festival, Big Day Out and a number of world class sporting fixtures. It is served by the Olympic Park railway line and station.
Sydney Olympic Park is operated by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. The site was previously intended (pre-Olympic bid) for a massive urban renewal project of the Homebush Bay area, of which the renewal masterplan was altered to accommodate venues for the 2000 Olympics.
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[edit] History
The Wann-gal clan of Indigenous Australians lived in the area before British settlement. The area was called "The Flats" by a scouting party shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. It became part of the Newington Estate in 1807 which was acquired by John Blaxland. The Government acquired some of the land for an aged women's home in the late 19th century. Much of the land was filled in from the river and wetlands. [1]
In the mid-1980s an area bounded by Australia Avenue and what are now Herb Elliott Avenue and Sarah Durack Ave was promoted as a 'technology park' called the Australia Centre.
However, apart from a few relatively high tech businesses like AWA Microelectronics, BASF, Phillips and Sanyo, the idea did not catch on and the Australian Technology Park is now in Eveleigh. In any event, a decade later the entire area became the site for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Before its transformation, a large part of Olympic Park was an industrial wasteland after 100 years of industrial & military ventures on the site. The site was once home to a brickworks, abattoir and an armaments depot as well as being the site for eight of Sydney's rubbish dumps.
With the succesful completion of the 2000 Olympics, Sydney Olympic Park has undergone a significant amount of development work to support its conversion to a multipurpose facility with a number of businesses re-locating to the area. In addition the long term plan for the area envisiages the site becoming home to 15,000 residents with another 15,000 workers and students commuting to the Park daily.
[edit] Recent Developments
2006 has seen a resurgence in development. The first of four major Commonwealth Bank office buildings is in an advanced stage of construction, and a five star Sofitel hotel has commenced construction. A two star Formule 1 hotel is planned to begin construction in 2007.
An education facility is planned to be built within the Park's urban core, tenders have been called for two serviced apartment complexes and the first of a number of residential developments is planned to start construction in 2007.
The parklands at Sydney Olympic Park are also undergoing development with Blaxland Riverside Park (formery Blaxland Common) being transformed into an urban park along Parramatta River. The Park opened on March 3, 2007.
[edit] Events
Currently there are nearly 1800 events which are held at the park every year, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, National Rugby League and Australian Rugby League games at Telstra Stadium, and athletics and swimming events. It has hosted the Big Day Out music festival and has been the venue for free, open air performances as part of the Sydney Festival such as Movies in the Overflow and Music by Moonlight.
The Newington Armory was the venue for the "Great Escape" music festival during Easter 2006 and will again host the event in 2007.
Some venues function have changed from the original one in the 2000 Olympics, such as the Baseball stadium shown on this map which has become the Sydney Showground, the former Sydney Superdome is now known as Acer Arena and the Olympic stadium has been renamed Telstra Stadium.
[edit] Management
- Prior to 1995 (Pre Olympic Site) - Homebush Bay Development Corporation
- 1995 to 2001 - Olympic Co-Ordination Authority
- 2001 to present - Sydney Olympic Park Authority
[edit] Facilities
[edit] Sydney 2000 Olympics venues
- Telstra Stadium (capacity 110,000 at time of Olympics, now 83,500) [2]
- Acer Arena (formerly Sydney Superdome) (capacity: Basketball 18,000; Gymnastics 15,000)
- Sydney Showground - Home of Sydney's Royal Easter Show
- Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre
- Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (capacity 17,500)
- Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre (capacity 16,200)
- Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre (capacity 15,000)
- Sydney Olympic Park Archery Centre (capacity 4,500)
- Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre (capacity 5,000)
- Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls
[edit] Non-Olympic facilities
- Sydney Olympic Park Golf Centre
- Sydney Olympic Park Mountain X - Mountain Biking
- Monster Skate Park
[edit] Accommodation
- Novotel and Hotel Ibis, Sydney Olympic Park
- Sydney Olympic Park Lodge - Newington Armory
- Former Olympic Village - now suburb of Newington, Sydney
[edit] Transport
- Olympic Park Railway Station
- Sydney Olympic Park Ferry Wharf (End of Hill Rd)
[edit] Parklands
- Bicentennial Park - 40 Hectares of Parkland, opened in 1988 to celebrate Australia's Bicentenary
- Wentworth Common
- Archery Park
- Blaxland Riverside Park along Parramatta River (Redevelopment to open March 2007)
- 425 Hectares of Parkland, throughout the Olympic Park site
[edit] Restricted areas
- Newington Armory - Former Armory Store for the Royal Australian Navy
- Newington Nature Reserve
