About Olympic Park :

Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located adjacent to the suburb of Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It was built for the 2000 Olympics and continues to be used for sporting and cultural events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Sydney Festival, Big Day Out and a number of world class sporting fixtures.

It is served by the Olympic Park railway line and station. There are also regular services to the nearby wharf which to and from run from various point around Sydney Harbour.

Sydney Olympic Park is operated by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

History :

The Wann-gal clan of Indigenous Australians lived in the area before British settlement. The area was called "The Flats" by a scouting party shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. It became part of the Newington Estate in 1807 which was acquired by John Blaxland. The Government acquired some of the land for an aged women's home in the late 19th century.

Much of the land was filled in from the river and wetlands. In the mid-1980s an area bounded by Australia Avenue and what are now Herb Elliott Avenue and Sarah Durack Ave was promoted as a 'technology park' called the Australia Centre.

However, apart from a few relatively high tech businesses like AWA Microelectronics, BASF, Phillips and Sanyo, the idea did not catch on and the Australian Technology Park is now in Eveleigh. In any event, a decade later the entire area became the site for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

With the successful completion of the 2000 Olympics, Sydney Olympic Park has undergone a significant amount of development work to support its conversion to a multipurpose facility with a number of businesses re-locating to the area. In addition the long term plan for the area envisages the site becoming home to 15,000 residents with another 15,000 workers and students commuting to the Park daily.

The Park is home to a significant arts and cultural program including regular events, the largest single precinct public art collection in Australia, the Armory Gallery which is the largest single room permanent art exhibition space in the Southern Hemisphere, a new theatre and an artist studio facility at Newington Armory.

Recent Development :

2006 has seen a resurgence in development. The first of four major Commonwealth Bank office buildings is in an advanced stage of construction, and a five star Sofitel hotel has commenced construction. A two star Formule 1 hotel is planned to begin construction in 2007.

An education facility is planned to be built within the Park's urban core, tenders have been called for two serviced apartment complexes and the first of a number of residential developments is planned to start construction in 2007.

The parklands at Sydney Olympic Park are also undergoing development with Blaxland Riverside Park (formery Blaxland Common) being transformed into an urban park along Parramatta River. The Park opened on March 3, 2007.

Events :

Currently there are nearly 1800 events which are held at the park every year, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, National Rugby League and Australian Rugby League games at Telstra Stadium, and athletics and swimming events. It has hosted the Big Day Out music festival and has been the venue for free, open air performances as part of the Sydney Festival such as Movies in the Overflow and Music by Moonlight.

The Olympic stadium has been renamed Telstra Stadium. The latter two venues are now very successful in their own right, with the stadium serving as the venue for 49 major sporting events in 2007 and the Arena being the worlds second highest grossing venue of its type in the world - behind only Madison Square Garden.

Management :

Prior to 1995 (Pre Olympic Site) - Homebush Bay Development Corporation * 1995 to 2001 - Olympic Co-Ordination Authority * 2001 to present - Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

Facilities :

Sydney 2000 Olympics venues - Telstra Stadium (capacity 110,000 at time of Olympics, now 83,500) * Acer Arena (formerly Sydney Superdome) (capacity: Concert 21,000 Basketball 18,000; Gymnastics 15,000)* Sydney Showground - Home of Sydney's Royal Easter Show * Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre * Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (capacity 17,500) * Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre (capacity 16,200) * Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre (capacity 15,000) * Sydney Olympic Park Archery Centre (capacity 4,500) * Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre (capacity 5,000) * Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls.

Non-Olympic facilities :

Sydney Olympic Park Golf Centre * Sydney Olympic Park Mountain X - Mountain Biking * Monster Skate Park * Armory Gallery * Armory Theatre.

Accommodation :

Novotel and Hotel Ibis, Sydney Olympic Park * Sydney Olympic Park Lodge - Newington Armory * Former Olympic Village - now suburb of Newington.

Sydney Transport :

Olympic Park Railway Station * Sydney Olympic Park Ferry Wharf (End of Hill Rd).

Parklands :

Bicentennial Park - 40 Hectares of Parkland, opened in 1988 to celebrate Australia's Bicentenary * Wentworth Common * Archery Park * Blaxland Riverside Park along Parramatta River (Redevelopment to open March 2007) * 425 Hectares of Parkland, throughout the Olympic Park site it held the 2000 Olypic games, seats 80,000, Also U2 and Rolling stones a visitor sometimes.