Work halted on Olympic stadium for design change
Beijing mayor's call for frugality sparks review of 'bird's nest' arena and projects
Construction of the National Stadium - the centrepiece of Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games - has been partially halted for a redesign, in an apparent response to Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan's call for frugality.
The Beijing Times yesterday quoted sources involved with the construction and design of the project as saying that building work stopped on Friday for a two-month break to change the design.
The report prompted a meeting by the Beijing municipal government yesterday afternoon to discuss how to announce the work break on the so-called 'bird's nest' stadium to the media.
A source within the Beijing Olympics Project Commanding Office would only say that part of the construction programme had stopped. 'It's certain that some projects will have to be changed in response to our mayor's call for a frugal Olympics,' he said, refusing to reveal the scope of the changes.
Mr Wang told a city party meeting last week that plans for the venues had to be changed to make more efficient use of funds. He also said better use had to be made of existing facilities to minimise duplication, and more consideration on how the venues would be used after the Games.
The National Stadium will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field events, as well as the men's football finals in the 2008 Games.
Featuring a removable roof, the stadium will boast a permanent and temporary seating capacity of 100,000.
A source attending the municipal government meeting yesterday said the Beijing Olympic organising committee had been given the task of making the announcement.
Several government departments and offices are responsible for making Olympic-related announcements, including the organising committee and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.
'The meeting consolidated the Olympic organising committee's responsibility to release the information,' the source said.
A source on the Olympic organising committee said: 'It's being scrutinised by our officials. We still don't know when we can release the news.'
Mainland organisers had planned to build and upgrade 30 stadiums for the 2008 Games.
Other projects planned include the National Swimming Pool, National Gymnasium and the Olympic Water Park.
Beijing originally estimated US$2 billion would be needed to cover construction and renovation costs, with 1 billion yuan coming from the Beijing government.
A committee source said it was decided at the end of July that plans for some venues would have to be changed but there was no final decision on which projects would be altered. It is not known how much the cutbacks will save but sources in the Beijing committee said the International Olympic Committee had demanded a more frugal approach.
