MAJOR EVENT LEGACIES
CAROLE PENDLE, PENDLE PR
THE COPPER BOX ARENA managing the legacy
The first Olympic venue to open in legacy mode – nicknamed the Box that Rocks during London 2012 – celebrated its first
legacy anniversary in July 2014. Carole Pendle looks at how
the unique venue has catered for both the local community and the demands of national and international events.
A UNIQUE CHALLENGE Home to handball, modern pentathlon and goalball during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Copper Box Arena, opened to the public on 27 July 2013, exactly one year after the success of the Games with more than 10,000 visitors coming through the doors over the launch weekend. The challenge for the legacy operator, charitable social enterprise GLL, which runs the venue on behalf of the London Legacy Development Corporation, has always been how to ensure that it remains a valued, relevant facility which not only delivers on pre-Olympic legacy promises but also makes commercial sense. Tony Wallace, head of Legacy Venues at GLL, explains: “The Copper Box Arena works for three primary markets: as a community sports hub for local residents and clubs, as a health and fitness facility and as a venue for regional, national and international events. Each element of the business is equally important.”
LEGACY COMMITMENTS The Copper Box hosts between 10 and 20 community events each month and a dedicated sports development team runs a proactive outreach programme with
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local schools and community groups. The building of local links has led to a number of schools using the venue on a regular basis, along with further education institutions such as Queen Mary’s University and the University of East London. The community ethos is further underlined by GLL’s recruitment strategy, which has seen 90 per cent of the 52 new jobs and apprenticeships created at the venue go to local residents; many of whom live in areas of social deprivation and had previously been long-term unemployed. One of the cornerstones to GLL’s
bid to manage both the Copper Box Arena and its neighbour, the London Aquatics Centre, was to create long term social and sporting opportunities – and this commitment sits alongside every commercial decision which is made.
The venue’s simple, yet striking design has contributed to iit becoming an iconic landmark at the Olympic Park
The Copper Box Arena is also home to an 80-station, two-studio heath club, which runs 25 classes per week. For Wallace and his team, attracting members was one of the first challenges they faced. “Because we opened while much of
the Olympic park was still undergoing redevelopment, it was a difficult to attract members to the gym in the early days, particularly as there was minimal natural footfall past our doors,” he says. “However, that’s all changed now, membership and usage figures are strong and as the residential population on
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 4 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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