This summer, Greenwich Park will host the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian and Olympic Modern Pentathlon events
The Olympic events will take place from 28 July – 12 August and the Paralympic events from 30 August – 4 September.
The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has worked closely with The Royal Parks, local residents and businesses to ensure that work to prepare for these events has the minimum impact on the Park and on Park users. Most of Greenwich Park will remain open until 7 July 2012, when it will close until 4 August in order to prepare for the Games. Access to areas of the Park will be reopened as soon as possible after cross-country day. The Children’s Playground and parts of The Flower Garden will remain open except on 30 July during the Cross Country event. The Queen’s House will be open until late June and then reopen in mid September. Access to The Royal Observatory will continue until mid/late July and then reopen in early August. The National Maritime Museum will remain open the entire summer.
This page is designed to keep you informed about the London 2012 Games in your area and provide you with the information you need to plan ahead for the Games.
What will happen and when?
April
On 2 April, work on the installation of the temporary arena for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events began in Queen’s Field (facing the Queen’s House).
Queen’s Field and the two main pathways running between the Avenue and the Queen’s Field will remain closed until the temporary facilities are removed in November. The other pathways in this area remain open.
You will still be able to move between east and west, for example between St. Mary’s Gate and the Children’s Playground/Creed Place Gate. You will still be able to get to The Royal Observatory using Jubilee Avenue or via the Avenue or from Park Vista Gate.
May
In May, the area between the Queen’s Field and the Avenue will close to enable the installation of the broadcast and athletes’ area. Temporary fencing will start to be erected around the Park, ready for the Games. During the fence installation, some pathways may need to close for a few days for safety reasons, but once the fencing is in place, the majority of pathways in the Park will remain open until 7 July.
Some localised utilities work may also be required before the start of the Games. Whenever this occurs temporary fencing will be put up around the area and removed when the work has been completed.
Wherever a pathway closes, a notice at the location will clearly indicate alternative pathways.
At the end of May, some additional temporary facilities will be installed to the west of Lovers’ Walk for the water jump. The work will take approximately one week. However, access to this area of the Park will remain fenced off until the end of November.
June
Small sections of the Park, along The Avenue (near Circus Gate) and on Blackheath Avenue (near Blackheath Gate), will be closed for the installation of temporary structures. Access across this channel will be possible via three crossing points
July
Most of the Park will be closed to the public between 7 July and 4 August; The Children’s Playground and parts of the Flower Garden will remain open except on 30 July, Cross Country day. The Royal Parks will start reinstatement work in sections of the Park in August.
Greenwich Park after the 2012 Games
The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has made it a priority to ensure the full reinstatement of Greenwich Park as soon as possible after the London 2012 Games.
Reinstatement from August 2012
LOCOG will begin work to remove the perimeter fencing and reopen sections of the Park before the Paralympic Equestrian events begin on 29 August.
Some areas of the Park, like the Equestrian Cross County course route, will be handed back to The Royal Parks immediately after the event. Reinstatement for some of these areas will start as early as August.
Reinstatement in these areas will largely consist of sowing grass seed. As this work will be carried out during the grass growing season, it is expected that these areas will start to recover as quickly as autumn 2012. Habitat enhancement work, designed to improve areas of acid grassland, will continue throughout the reinstatement works. LOCOG contractors will work closely with The Royal Park’s Management team to carry out this work. Acid grassland is an important habitat for a wide range of insects and spiders. Funded by LOCOG, this work will provide a lasting legacy for Greenwich Park.
September to November 2012
The Royal Parks will begin work to revitalise grass and reinstate Greenwich Park as soon as possible once the Olympic and Paralympic events are over. Sections of the Park and pathways will start to reopen, but areas to the north of the Park facing the Queen’s House and the National Maritime Museum will remain closed while LOCOG works to remove fencing and equipment as safely as possible.
November 2012 onwards
The site used for the main arena, the training area and the stables will be handed back to The Royal Parks in November when all of the temporary event structures have been removed. This is after the 2012 grass growing season. Some sections of this area in the north of the Park that are heavily used and that do not feature acid grassland will be re-turfed as soon as practical and depending on the weather. In areas that are rich in acid grassland, the appropriate grass seed will be sown. As the temperature of the ground is too low to support the germination of grass seed between November and February, The Royal Parks will use this time to prepare the ground for seeding in March 2013.
Local travel information
The London 2012 Games will attract large numbers of visitors to venues and their surrounding areas, which means some temporary traffic and parking restrictions will be needed.
Find out how Greenwich will be affected on our local access and parking plans page
For more information about how travel will be affected in your local area, including roads and public transport, please visit the Get Ahead of the Games website
For more information
For more information call: 08000 722 110
For further information on The Royal Parks and reinstatement plans for Greenwich Park please visit www.royalparks.org.uk/london-2012
For details on the National Maritime Museum visit www.rmg.co.uk
View the Royal Borough of Greenwich website
Get involved
From the Olympic Torch Relay and Local Leaders programme to the London 2012 Festival there are millions of ways to join in with London 2012. Events are taking place across the UK from now right until the end of the Games.
Find out how you can join in by simply visiting our Join In pages and see what’s happening in your local community.