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By Sun Wei in London The 2012 Games site in east London will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it was announced Thursday. The new name will come into effect when the 500-acre (2-square-kilometer) site opens to the public in 2013. It follows permission from the queen, the British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee. "This will be the first time that an Olympic park site or a Games will have both an Olympic and a royal long-term association, and it brings with it fantastic benefits for local people, for east London and for the capital as a whole," Mayor Boris Johnson said. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said, "Her majesty has been supportive of London 2012 from the start, and with the event taking place in her diamond jubilee year, it is fitting that the park bears her name." The royal seal of approval coincides with the rollout of the long-term plans, by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, to make the park one of Europe's premier destinations for residents and visitors. The long-term ambition for development over 25 years will see up to 11,000 new homes, including the Olympic Village apartments. Plans will combine tradition and innovation in modern versions of London's Georgian and Victorian squares and terraces, as well as in riverside properties stretching along the banks of the park's rejuvenated waterways. The royal association is expected to help transform the east end, once a derelict industrial site, into a unique destination, which will have a thriving program of events and attractions "ready to rival any international city," Johnson told reporters Thursday. |
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