SYDNEY, Australia (AP) —Sports fans will be able to buy — and live on — their own piece of Olympic history after officials Wednesday unveiled plans to turn parts of the site of the Sydney Summer Games into a residential neighborhood for 3,000 people.
The blueprint for the site in western Sydney is also expected to generate 10,000 jobs in a new complex of shops, restaurants and offices, said Bob Carr, New South Wales state government leader.
The master plan was approved by government officials Wednesday, and is an improved version of a plan first proposed 12 months ago.
It will include a town square ringed by shops and restaurants.
Some 1,300 new homes will be built and parks developed.
The stadiums used in the 2000 Olympics will stay.
“An area that was such a focus for the world for those two weeks in 2000 now has the potential to again generate investment, entertainment and become a proud new community,” Carr said. “The aim of the plan is to deliver a critical mass of residents and workers to the site over the next 10 years.”
It was not immediately clear when work on the site would begin. The site of the 23rd Summer Olympics has seen a lot of change since the Games were held in Sept. 2000.
The track where Australian athlete Cathy Freeman won gold in the women’s 400 meters is gone. The main stadium’s capacity has been reduced from 110,000 to 80,000, and is now mostly used to host rugby matches.
The SuperDome, where both U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams won gold, is vying with the downtown Sydney Entertainment Center to stage rock concerts and sporting events. The athletes village has been transformed into the residential suburb of Newington housing around 10,000 residents.
The Olympic site also has had its fair share of criticism, labeled by opposition government figures as a “white elephant” featuring expensive but underused sports facilities.
