A new Shea Stadium, which will be converted into a state-of-the-art 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium in the Olympic Park Cluster, is New York 2012’s plan B announced Sunday. The new plan includes a warm-up track and throwing field which will be located immediately adjacent to the stadium.
Under the modified plan the Main Press and International Broadcast Centers will be located across the street from the Stadium in new structures to be built in Willets Point as part of the city’s development plans for the area.
The Stadium would serve as the site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Athletics, and the Soccer finals.
The Olympic Stadium will be 16 minutes from the Olympic Village, 24 minutes from the Main Hotel Area, and is reportedly served by existing highways and mass transit. The stadium’s location is consistent with the security and transport plans detailed in NYC2012’s candidature file.
The owners of the Mets baseball team would pay for the new 45,000-seat ballpark to open for the 2009 season. Officials did not estimate how much the stadium would cost, and the design was unclear.
The city would pay $85 million and the state would pay a proposed $75 million for infrastructure improvements around Shea, reports the New York Daily News.
If the city hosts the Games the $250 million to convert the ballpark to an 80,000-seat Olympic stadium will be shared by New York 2012, the city and the state, with the state and city paying about $50 million each.
According to the New York Post New York Governor George Pataki and state legislative leaders have all signed off on the 50 million in Olympic costs, but not the $75 million that would go for infrastructure in and around the Mets site, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The city council must approve the $85 million the mayor committed to the project.
