LONDON (AP) - London 2012 officials have made changes to the Olympic Park, making the site more secure and preventing the removal of 95 businesses.
The alterations affect the athletes' village, the press and broadcast centers and parking facilities.
Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee, said Monday the changes were approved by the British government and the International Olympic Committee last week.
"The changes will bring the facilities close together within the Olympic Park, resulting in an improved layout that will make the site even more secure for all users," Coe said.
David Higgins, the incoming chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said construction on the athletes' village would begin ahead of schedule.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said security was a top priority at Olympic Park following the suicide bombings that killed 56 people on London's transit system last July.
"Further work on refining and developing the security aspects of the revised plan is in hand," Jowell said in a statement to Parliament on Monday.
The international broadcast center and the main press center will be moved from temporary buildings outside Olympic Park to an area near the international train station inside the complex. The media centers will be housed in buildings that will be converted into offices after the games.
A multilevel parking lot built for Stratford City will be used for temporary parking, preventing the requisition of 72 acres of land. That means 95 businesses, with 1,200 employees, and 70 residents will not be relocated because of the Olympics.
Manny Lewis, chief executive of the London Development Agency, said 206 businesses still had to be relocated. The land is scheduled to be given to Olympic organizers by mid 2007.
(c) 2005 Associated Press
