Five... things that aren't part of the 2012 Olympics legacy (but could have been)
Including a floating Biblical aviary and an east London ski resort
Hi and welcome to your weekend newsletter…
This edition’s a collection of London ‘improvements’ that were under consideration in the prelude to the 2012 Olympics.
Though none of these came to pass, some came pretty close, letting us picture an alternative presentday London — one where you picnic in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer, hone your winter sports skills at Stratford’s ski resort, and visit a floating evangelical aviary on the Thames.
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Christ the Redeemer for Primrose Hill
Half a year before the London Games, Rio (next up to host the Olympics) was thinking ahead.
The Camden New Journal uncovered ‘a secret plan to build a giant replica of the Rio De Janeiro statue of Christ The Redeemer close to the summit of Primrose Hill’ to mark the handover. Reception for the idea was lukewarm among local community groups, while ‘Primrose Hill Lib Dem councillor Chris Naylor said he wasn’t sure a 30ft statue of Christ with his arms outstretched was quite what the area needed’.
Ultimately the designs never made it off the drawing board, and the idea has never been resurrected.