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Government plans to revamp Park
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Boosters of the Sydney 2000 Olympics have unveiled plans to turn the Games precinct into a hub of residential and commercial activity. Premier Bob Carr, head of the New South Wales state government that bankrolled the Sydney Games, on Tuesday released a post-Olympic master plan to ensure the Homebush Bay site remained "lively and lived in." The Athletes Village has already been transformed into the residential suburb of Newington, which is expected to house 10,000 residents. The master plan provides for development of cafes, shops and restaurants around a town center near Stadium Australia, the centerpiece of the Olympics, and housing for an additional 3,000 people. It also includes up to three 20-storey apartment blocks and another building of up to 30 stories to bolster the business precinct. "This is the ultimate answer to seeing it is a lively and lived in precinct," Carr said. "You put accommodation and commercial activity into the heart of Homebush Bay and that is the essence of the plan". Stadium Australia, which hosted the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics competition, is being modified to decrease the capacity from 110,000 to about 80,000. The stadium will continue to host major sporting events including rugby internationals. Other Olympic venues have been retained in the precinct and will continue as high-profile sports centers, including the New South Wales State Tennis Center and the State Aquatic Center. The SuperDome, which hosted basketball during the Sydney Games, is vying with the Sydney Entertainment Center and other venues closer to downtown Sydney to stage events ranging from rock concerts to basketball league games. Carr said Homebush Bay was ideally located between Sydney's CBD and Parramatta, the geographic center of the greater Sydney area. Residents and business would benefit from being close to rail and road transport hubs created for the Olympics, he said. The private sector has been invited to submitted development proposals for 20 sites in within the precinct.
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