Olympic Village is Completed Prior To Schedule
The Olympic Village for the 2000 Sydney Games has been completed ahead of schedule and is now ready to host more than 15,000 athletes and officials from around the world.
The NSW Premier, Bob Carr, tonight will officially accept the Village from the developers Mirvac Lend Lease Village Consortium, marking an historic milestone in the preparations for the Millennium Games.
Constructed on a site covering 90 hectares over a 36 month period, the Olympic Village comprises 513 permanent houses, 355 apartments and 336 modular homes, built by 14 firms. The number of workers employed averaged 800 each day.
‘It is difficult to believe that this wonderful Olympic Village, soon to become a new suburb of Sydney called Newington, grew out of a site variously used for a salt mine, tweed mill, flour mill, horse and grazing land, and an armaments depot,’ Mr Carr said.
‘The Village is the result of a unique development between private enterprise and the NSW Government, and represents a tribute to the vision and know-how of all those people and companies involved.’
‘I understand that the first athletes will begin checking into their rooms at 8am on September 2. I am sure the universal opinion will be that this is the most magnificent Olympic Village on record.’
‘I have read that AOC president John Coates believes it is the finest he has experienced.’
Built at a cost of $590 million, including a $117 million contribution from the NSW Government, and located virtually in the shadow of the state-of-the-art facilities of Olympic Park, the Village is the first in Olympic history to accommodate every athlete competing in the Games in one location.
When fully occupied, it will be the fifth largest City in NSW and the largest solar-powered suburb in the world.
Mr Carr said the main dining room was capable of seating almost 5,000 people and serving 60,000 meals daily.
‘That number of meals, served over the 33 days of operation of the Village, represents two million meals under one roof,’ Mr Carr said.
The Village will include a bank, general store, hair salon, travel agency, photo shop, merchandise shop, florist and post office.
At the completion of the Olympics, the Village will undergo a series of modifications to meet the demands of 7,500 athletes and team officials for the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.
‘When the curtain comes down on the Paralympics, ending a wonderful 45 days of sporting and cultural festivities in Sydney, the Village will be transformed into private housing, including a shopping centre and school, for the new suburb of Newington,’ Mr Carr said.
‘The residents of the suburb, numbering some 5,000 people, will be able to say forever and a day that they live on the site of one of the world’s greatest sporting competitions.’
Mr Carr accepted the hand-over of the Olympic Village at a gala dinner hosted by Mirvac Lend Lease Villages Consortium, held in the giant dining hall marquee.
Among the many guests were a number of Olympians, including Zali Stegall, Trisha Fallon, Janelle Elford, Mark Kerry, Michael Diamond, Robyn Maher, and Megan Still.
Source: SOCOG Olympics.com