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Show Saturday, April 15,2000 Ths Park Record A-7 Eye on the (Games A journey to 0z, Part 2 t Another Olympic Park. No tour of the Sydney Olympics can be complete without a visit to the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay. As I mentioned last week, Sydney is a large city, but its venues for the upcoming Sunmer Olympics are all in fairly close proximity. In fact, many of the venues are in local neighborhoods neigh-borhoods just like ours and, as you might guess, we are both wrestling with many of the same issues. ' Sydney has divided their "Olympic Theater" into three distinct areas. First, is the area downtown around Darling Harbor where many of the smaller competitions (weight lifting, fencing, etc.) will be held in the Sydney convention complex. There are also some outdoor out-door venues near Darling Harbor. However, the harbor area is our Main Street it's where the party will be, scheduled or otherwise. Since it struck me immediately that Aussies never pass up an opportunity-to party, this will be a great place to experience the spirit of the Olympics without ever buying a ticket. tmmmm The next area is in rural Sydney where the equestrian events, rowing and kayaking, mountain biking and Softball will be held.; They intend to provide park-and-ride services for these venues which are about 25 miles from downtown. Most interesting is the rowing and kayaking arena an artificial lake created for rowers, and a 300-yard-long artificial Whitewater river created for kayak-ers. kayak-ers. It is otherwise flat terrain without a hint of a natural lake or river. The Aussies have become masters of illusion. The primary area for Olympic competition is a 750 hectare (about 1600 acres or roughly the size of the Flagstaff development or 875 rugby fields) site known as Homebush Bay. It is an area masterfully reclaimed from industrial indus-trial waste (portions were once a brickyard and an Abattoir a nice word for rendering plant), swamps and bogs and a World War II-era II-era powder magazine. Over time, the New South Wales government has acquired the land nd completed a massive clean-up. Today, the site contains the Bicentennial (theirs, not ours) Park, trails, lakes, streams, wildlife habitat and the Millennium Park Reserve. It also contains the Olympic Park by Frank Bell y 11 competition venues and the Athletes Village. The Olympic Park is a huge developed plaza containing Stadium Australia. It seats about 110,000 people for the Olympics and 80,000 for continuing uses. It is complete acd in use today for various sporting events. Also in the Olympic Park is the Sydney SuperDome seating 20,000 indoors the aquatic center, tennis center, baseball stadium and archery park. All are essentially completed complet-ed and in use now. In fact, the aquatic center is already hugely popular there was a teachers' strike going on and gaggles of While we here in Salt Lake continue to debate whether or not the Olympics are a tax-supported event and while we here in Park City debate the mentis of our potential Olympic Plaza (the old carwash parceiL.the New South Wales Government took matters into their own hands. " Frank Ml teenage girls in skimpy bikinis were riding our train en route for a day at the park. The park also contains a high rise hotel, several restaurant restau-rant and concession facilities and a train station. sta-tion. Across the street is an equally impressive athletes village. Frequently the athletes village vil-lage is attached to a university (Atlanta and Salt Lake among others), but in Sydney it is a new housing development which will be reconfigured after the Games and sold to the public as individual units. The Olympic Park is accessible from downtown down-town Sydney by bus, train and ferry. Even though the park is more than 25 miles inland, Sydney has a sophisticated system of waterways water-ways and fast ferries that access areas of the city far from the harbor. While the site contains con-tains great facilities and wonderful p.uks and recreation areas for Sydneysiders (that s what they call themselves), its greatest benefit is the environmental planning and reclamation that occurred to make the site what it is today. Even much of the power and area lighting is solar generated, and water features are everywhere, every-where, both as a function of public art and places for people to rest and relax. A "walkabout" "walka-bout" along the Olympic Boulevard is a lengthy chore, but a pub is centrally located. Visitors to the Games ought to familiarize themselves with the local cry for a "VB stubby" stub-by" which is Victoria Bitter Beer (not bitter, in fact quite tasty) in a bottle. Now for the kicker it was all built and managed by the government. While we here in Salt Lake continue to debate whether or not the Olympics are a tax-supported event, and while we here in Park City debate the merits of our potential Olympic Plaza (the old carwash parcel) of a few thousand square feet, the New South Wales Government took matters into their own hands. They formed a separate branch of government to plan, design, build, manage and maintain all of the facilities that will go into the Summer Games. Shortly before the Games begin, the government will turn over the keys to SOCOG in a landlord -tenant relationship. When the games are over, SOCOG gives the keys a" back, and the facilities become public again with the long-term goal of generating sufficient revenues to pay ongoing costs. Given the popularity of sports in Australia, it ought to work. The reclamation of Homebush Bay and the construction of the Olympic Park w as a huge public investment which was only partially moved along by the Olympics. The Games are only one customer in a huge public recreation and sports complex that is in use today and will continue in use long after the Games are over. The Australians are not confused by their Olympic participation. Though they have had their share of controversies, they used the Olympics and the reclamation of wasted land to invest in their recreational future. "Good on ya mates." Next week we will travel to Darling Harbor and downtown. Former Pork City Police Chief Frank Bell now serves as the citv's Director of Olympic PLtnningand Special Events. The Park Record welcomes vour questions about the ciiys role in the 2002 M'inter Games. Please send questions to Eve on the Games, c'o The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, Utah 84060 or e-mail editordparkrecord.com -'J 7rf- i IM rn vyy i f tit f im u What's lwppsning in Park City this wzekend? Oicd: out SCENE in Tin Yris Record. YOU'RE CAREFUL BEHIND THE WHEEL, ARE YOU AS CAREFUL CHOOSING YOUR CAR mSMAIKE? Dont trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: Bryan Daybell 1912 SOewmtfef rx. Sutt 101 Paffc Cay. Utah 49-9161 st an raiM Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.9 V IMSUIANCI mm: II llOVlMLIflOfelE CM! I! uniti -f, iiilK i$i!KiMiiti nil Ihttto iV ft.A nikji osteal &m m Gsm(s& n ' ' i- e 0 , n ;. Al-iOL SPECIALS" rf FERF0HPMG m THE ATRIUM RDAY3 k SATURDAYS JbnlUtb & ISth pTPsocrcs a JUtJtJtjLJiA t-Jlt-J tJ n a-Jl, I i j dczj bonus Ctsy rn7ltriiy EtcurjTbczt April aar- t v ... . c , i. S4t UU Stfttl tO SIll Brins Scr:ne Sptdil to Dhnx.ONUSH! I a tvfatt VMta vov vvmchaii oftct wuo Ju im ttjarii&3cs ocr S I Mali Street lit-S SSI Copy |