The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has revealed that a large chunk of a £51m (€61m/$63m) rise in redevelopment costs for the London Stadium can be attributed to problems surrounding the ground’s retractable seating.
Last month, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan ordered a probe into the finances of the ground, which is the home of English Premier League football club West Ham United, after it emerged that the cost of renovating the facility had risen from £272m to £323m.
A number of changes had to be made to the stadium, which served as the hub of the London 2012 Olympic Games, for it to be deemed suitable as a football venue.
One of the key factors of the renovation was the installation of retractable seating. Last month it was reported that the cost of installing the seating had increased from an estimated £300,000 to £8m.
LLDC chief executive David Goldstone has confirmed that the seating was indeed the main factor behind the cost hike, with difficulties surrounding the contractor leading to the LLDC having to step in itself.
“If we go through the difference of the £272m and the £323m referred to, and the £51m increase, a chunk of it was to do with the very unfortunate failure of the seating contractor who had been appointed to introduce the seating system,” Goldstone said when being questioned by the London Assembly budget monitoring sub-committee yesterday (Wednesday), according to the Press Association.
“That happened just before the Rugby World Cup last summer, so an inopportune moment, and effectively in the efforts of installing the new seating system the contractor failed and were unable to meet the requirements of the contract.
“We were left with a partially-installed system with a Rugby World Cup imminent and very large crowds and very high profile, so (we) had to step in and make it ready for that event.”
Goldstone continued: “It had been a joint venture. One part of the main designer and installer of the seating systems went bust, the other inherited it, but wasn’t a suitable long-term contractor, so for 2016 they took it forward, but we had to effectively settle out with them.
“It was only really for this summer’s season we were able to do the first moves with the fully-installed system and understand what that would involve. Issues we have had, starting with the collapse of the appointed contractor in mid-2015, have caused about £21m of that increase.”
Goldstone also revealed that another £14m of the extra costs stemmed from a joint venture with Newham Council that led to concert- and lighting-related enhancements, as well as pitch improvements and the installation of a large screen.
Another £12m was set aside as a contingency, along with £4m to cover insurances and the LLDC’s management costs. Goldstone insisted that the £323m figure would not be increasing further.
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