General Fact Sheet

2005 Fast Facts about Sydney Olympic Park

General

• 7.7 million visitors which is an increase of 17% from 2004.
• 624-hectare site, which is twice the size of the Sydney CBD (425-hectares is parklands)
• The Park is now home to 6,000 staff and over 60 businesses
• 413,000 school students attended a variety of school events, excursions and activities at Sydney Olympic Park

Future plans

• By year 2025 its anticipated that the Park will support a residential population of up to 15,000, a daily population of up to 20,000 workers and students.

Development

• Sydney Olympic Park Authority has already generated land sales in excess of $100million
• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will relocate 5,000 staff to the Park by 2009
• Two new hotels are being built at the precinct – a 5-star Sofitel hotel and a 2-star Formule 1 hotel, bringing the total number of hotel rooms at the Park to almost 700.
• Plans for an education campus are underway, which will be a core component of the Park’s sporting and creative hub.

Sport

• 50 different sports played which attracted 1.2 million participants
• 1.1 million people visited the Sydney Aquatic Centre to particpate in school sports carnivals and activities or for recreational purposes.
• Nearly 1 million people attended major sports events at Telstra Stadium, making it one of Australia’s busiest sports venues.

Environment & Nature

• 425-hectares of parkland makes Sydney Olympic Park the largest urban park in Australia - double the size of Centennial Park
• 5kms of waterfront
• 35kms of pathways and cycleways
• Over 140 species of birds have been recorded at the Park
• 1.5million people visisted the Parklands, 484,000 of which were cyclists.
• 850 million litres water recycled annually through WRAMS (equivalent to 500 Olympic pools)
• 9 million 3 tonnes land remediated in preparation for the Sydney 2000 Games

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

• Over 4,000 events were held at the Park in 2005, attracting 3.6 million people.
• 'Movies in The Overflow' is the largest free outdoor cinema experience in the southern hemisphere.
• More than 25,000 children attend ‘Kids in the Park’ a seasonal school holiday program which teaches children a variety of sporting, creative and educational skills.
• 24 pieces of urban and public artwork now on display at the Park.

Business Events

• Over 1,470 business events (meetings, conferences and exhibitons) were staged at the Park, valued at more than $20million.
• Business events at the Park generated more than $23million in revenue across 9 venues at the Park.
• Sydney Olympic Park’s popularity as a bsuiness events location is increasing as Darling Harbour reaches its capacity.

Parklands

• Over 700,000 visitors use Bicentennial Park annually and its recognised as one of Australia's best examples of environmental remediation.
• The first stage of development is underway at Blaxland Common and earmarked for completion in mid 2007. The $7million development is part of a wider vision for the precinct and its 425Ha of parklands.

Telstra Stadium

• Telstra Stadium increased its usage by over 280% since 2001.
• Largest stadium ever used for the Olympic Games
• Record Olympic crowd of 112,524 attended to see Cathy Freeman win the women's 400-metre final.
• The Stadium also holds the world record crowd attendance for rugby union (109,874) and rugby league (104,583)
• In post-Olympic mode, the Stadium holds just over 83, 500
• The highest point on the Stadium is approximately 58-metres above ground level (about the same height as a 14-storey building)
• The main roof arches for the east and west grandstands have a clear span of nearly 300-metres - about the same as the Gladesville Bridge - and big enough too fit four Boeing 747s side to side
• Total roof area is approximately 37,000 square metres - equal to about 70 average sized suburban blocks
• Rainwater is collected off the roofs and is stored in four under-ground tanks with a total capacity of 3.2 million litres
• The east and west lower seating tiers move in and out on rails to enable the Stadium to be reconfigured from rectangular mode sports (rugby league, rugby union and soccer) to oval mode sports (AFL and cricket). Telstra Stadium is the only stadium in Australia to reconfigure on a regular basis

Acer Arena

• Recognised as the second most successful indoor entertainment arena in the world after Madison Square Gardens for gross ticket revenue.

Games Cauldron

• 10 metres high
• Weighs 7 tonnes
• Stands on 24 stainless steel columns
• Lists the names of 1,972 Olympic and 2,267 Paralympic medal-winning athletes on the pavement radiating out from its base
• Now lit once a year on the anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Streets Named after Olympic & Paralympic Athletes

• Dawn Fraser
• Edwin Flack
• Herb Elliot
• Kevin Coombs
• Louise Sauvage
• Majorie Jackson
• Rod Laver
• Shane Gould
• Shirley Strickland