First look inside Woolwich Common’s Olympic shooting venue

Sparks

From here, a look inside the range for the London Games.











Hard to believe this has been handled so badly - it'll be built, it'll run three matches - the London World Cup in April, the Olympics and the Paralympics - and then it'll be torn down. It won't even hold the British Nationals because the way the contract is done, they'd have to fly in the range company staff from abroad to open the place up and run the match and you'd lose shedloads of money and probably financially ruin the NSRA in the process. And after they tear it down, they won't even be distributing the electronic targets and other gear to ranges round the UK because they're leasing the kit.

So much for legacy...

intershoot

its absolutely disgusting a facility like that can be built, used three times and then torn down.

I understand the issues with management costs etc, but ffs - is there no common sense left in the world?? what about the energy and money used in a farce of this scale? and then they're telling us all to use solar panels and windmills - cock jockies!!!

Bunch of turd-burgling bum-bandits if ye ask me!! :mad:


Thats it.....................I'm not fookin going!!!!

tac foley

£28Million to build and £14Million to tear down.

Public money thrown away.

This time next year it will look like the bomb-site that it was.

...and we'll get.............................................................nothin'.

Here we are in our little club in East Anglia, with 250 or so members, ALL of whom have given two or three year's subs in advance to help us build our new firing point building at a cost of around £70,000, which includes a small grant from the British sports Foundation. We are getting it done at around half-price because the builders are all members of the gun-club, too, else it would be near double.

No wonder the world laffs at the British and their funny little ways.

tac

tac foley

Sparks wrote: »

From here, a look inside the range for the London Games.

I can hear their thoughts from here - 'By jeez, you could comfortably get around 15,000 Albanian/Polish/Bulgarian/Lithuanian/Nigerian illegal immigrants in here...'

tac

Sparks

Given that that's a group of the local residents, I somehow doubt that one Tac...

intershoot

Sparks wrote: »

Given that that's a group of the local residents, I somehow doubt that one Tac...

Maybe contemplating their worst nightmares!

Sparks

I think they were actually thinking "They cut down our trees for this?" going by the comments on the blog!

tommyboy26

That is crazy to think to spend that kind of money to build and then tear it down instead of trying to encourage people into the sport.

tac foley

Sparks wrote: »

Given that that's a group of the local residents, I somehow doubt that one Tac...

Sparks, I was trying VERY hard, not to say what you just have said.

I couldnt possibly comment.

tac

rowa

When its flattened next year whats going to be built (if anything) in its place ? Is it built on public land ?

Sparks

Nothing's to be built there, they'll replant the trees and grass as far as I know.

tac foley

Sparks wrote: »

Nothing's to be built there, they'll replant the trees and grass as far as I know.

Yup.

Each tree will have cost £1/4Million.

tac

tac foley

tommyboy26 wrote: »

That is crazy to think to spend that kind of money to build and then tear it down instead of trying to encourage people into the sport.

Funny that you should mention that, but 2010 has been the year that saw more people than ever before take up shooting sports - especially the Section 1 part - rifles, handguns and practical shotgun.

tac

Thirdfox

Reading the blog one person states that the building will be recycled in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, any truth to that?

I wonder what happened to the Beijing shooting venue. I remember seeing the table tennis one going up near my uni, for some reason I'm sure they would have kept that venue at the very least

Sikamick

This may seem to be a stupid question but why didn’t they use Bisley for the shooting competitions in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sikamick

LK_Dave

tac foley wrote: »

£28Million to build and £14Million to tear down.
Public money thrown away.

They must be using the same demolition company as is doing the Limerick Regeneration project - 900 houses demolished, none built, €116m spent.:eek:

Sparks

Sikamick wrote: »

This may seem to be a stupid question but why didn’t they use Bisley for the shooting competitions in the 2012 Olympic Games.

The LRC in Bisley would have to have been completely rebuilt to do so - it's not even up to the standard needed for the Commonwealth games (the air rifle hall floor didn't have enough support put in during construction so it flexes too much). On top of which, the NSRA has already been almost broken financially by looking after the LRC as it stands - looking after a rebuilt, larger LRC would probably do them in. And they're miles away from the Olympic village so the sport would get no exposure.

Not using Bisley was the right decision - it's how they're handling Woolwich that beggars belief.

Bananaman

Well, they could have built the "new building" that they built in Woolich - in Bisley.

B'Man

It wasn't me!

Bananaman wrote: »

Well, they could have built the "new building" that they built in Woolich - in Bisley.

B'Man

The problem's always been upkeep and maintenance. The LRC is sinking the NSRA as is. Adding more infrastructure would be the last brick around their neck.

Sparks

No, they couldn't - as I said, the NSRA is financially almost broken with the maintenance of the Lord Roberts Center as it stands. It costs money just to keep the thing maintained and opened and not enough people use it to generate that money (which is why you see it being rented out for hockey and weddings and the like). If they rebuilt it to be even larger, or worse, built another building for them to look after as well, it would break the NSRA financially and you'd do the sport enormous damage.

The NRA are great advocates of using Bisley, certainly - because they'd get the benefit of any work done to improve the site for the Games, but the NSRA would get the responsibility (and the cost) of the subsequent upkeep.

It's an old story - see Wolf Creek in the US for example. Built for the Atlanta games, but not enough people used it afterwards and it went bust and had to be broken up and the parts sold off to other smaller ranges round the country (where that could be done - some parts couldn't be used because they weren't able to afford to keep them maintained or because they just couldn't be broken up in the first place).

What's odd about this situation is that they went with leasing all the equipment instead of buying it (and making sure it could be distributed to smaller ranges later on), and that they didn't plan on leaving up the range for even a short time to run domestic matches to capitalise on the extra publicity from the games.

dCorbus

Well, so much for all the nonsense and spin-doctoring about "sustainability" and "legacy".

(Now, I've just had a Big Idea!!! A De-mountable & Transportable Rifle Range System, anyone?:rolleyes: Actually, come to think of it.......hmmmmmm Thinking Cap goes on!;))

Sparks

Er, WTSC has one of those dC, it's what we ran the 2004 Nationals with



Not fancy, but it worked...

dCorbus

Right, that's the internals sorted so! (At least, for AR)

Now to figure out how to erect and dismantle an entire range building! (which is more akin to what I had running through my head! something like this........A Rather Fancy Demountable Building )

Sparks

Vegeta

They see me rollin...........

Sparks wrote: »

dCorbus

Kinda sorta......

Was thinking more IKEA flatpack might be an handier way......