As reported by news agency Reuters, the building of the 12,000-seat basketball arena for the London 2012 Olympics has been completed. The temporary stadium took 15 months to build and is the fourth venue at the Olympic Park to be finished, with a test event to be held there in August. The 115 meters long and 35 meters high, the white-clad arena is one of the largest temporary venues ever used for an Olympic Games and will be dismantled afterwards to be reused elsewhere. Building began in October 2009, with work to erect the 1,000-tonne steel frame starting in March 2010. The venue, completed on budget (US$ 69 billion), will hold the Olympic Park's first test event when six top men's teams (Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia) play in an International Invitational tournament from August 16-21. Other Olympic Park venues already finished are the main stadium, the velodrome and the handball arena.

The last piece of turf was laid on Tuesday at the Olympic Stadium, symbolising the completion of building work on the 80 000-seat flagship venue for the 2012 London Games. Former Olympic sprinter Frank Fredericks used a shovel to lay down the symbolic last piece of grass on the infield, 16 months before next year's games. London organisers and International Olympic Committee officials visited the stadium to mark the milestone. Fredericks was among the members of the IOC coordination commission taking part in the ceremony at the Olympic Park in east London. The IOC panel is making its eighth visit to London to check on preparations for the games. Construction on the $777-million stadium began in May 2008. "The Olympic Stadium has been finished on time and under budget," Olympic Delivery Authority chairperson John Armitt said. A total of 360 rolls of turf were needed to cover the 9 000-square metre infield. The surface of the running track will be laid later this year. "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow," organising committee chairperson Sebastian Coe said. "With one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."

As Building.co.uk reports, work on Roman Abramovich's £20m secret nightclub underneath Chelsea's Stamford Bridge football stadium may be delayed after cleaners inadvertently drenched the venue's high-tech stage and sound system. Nightclub's £500,000 speaker system and hydraulic stage were flooded by water that leaked into the venue from the stadium during weekend cleaning of the football club's east stand. Work on the club, which includes a 4m high waterfall as well as the hydraulically operated stage, was scheduled to be completed in late November but sources said the finish date is now likely to slip into late December. Stadium cleaners used jet-powered hoses to wash down the seating area in the east stand directly above the club's stage and toilet area. To prevent any future water ingress, stadium authorities going to use a mop and bucket when they're cleaning the stand, rather than jet-powered hoses."