The main arena for the 2012 Olympic basketball competition in London may be scrapped before it is is even started.
One of the things that impressed … and surprised … people about the recent Beijing Olympics was the extravagance of some of the venues. It appeared no expense was kept back at many of the facilities.
That may not be the case at the 2012 Olympics in London. A report came out this week that the committee supervising construction of Olympic sites in London has asked KPMG, a well-known accounting firm, to look at the budgeting requests and see if it is really worthwhile to build several new facilities.
Among the sites being looked at: the arena that would host the majority of basketball games that would be played.
“When you take the costs for these venues, it seems like a lot of money to a lot of people. It is a sort of testing-to-destruction to see whether that spending can be justified," said Tessa Jowell, Olympic minister.
Wilkinson Eyre and KSS Design Group, both of whom are headquartered in London, were awarded the basketball arena contract last November. The arena is expected to seat 12,000 and will handle most of the preliminary round games. The finals are expected to be played in the O2 Arena, foremerly known as the MIllenium Dome. The arena has already hosted NHL and NBA games.
