People enjoy the atmosphere of the Olympic Green, where the Bird's Nest is located, during the just-concluded Games. Xu Jingxing

Everyone who marveled at US swimmer Michael Phelps snatching eight gold medals in the National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, during the Olympic Games will soon get a chance to "compete" at the iconic venue.

The authorities in Beijing are planning to turn the venue into the city's largest water park with an artificial beach, aquatic recreational equipment and fitness facilities.

Kang Wei, president of the National Aquatics Center Company, which runs the venue, said 6,000 makeshift seats, of the total of 17,000, would be removed to make room for an artificial surf beach and other recreational and training facilities.

The construction of recreational facilities is expected to begin after Spring Festival in 2009, and finish in about a year.

And the authorities promise entry prices similar to the city's other swimming pools to ensure that the public gets to use the only Games venue that was partly funded with their donations.

The Water Cube, as one of the 12 Olympic venues newly constructed for the Games, is not the only structure to undergo post-Olympic changes to cover the huge maintenance expense.

While many splendid Olympic venues of the past have either become ruins or been reborn, experts have cautioned that one of the core challenges in the possible economic slump after the Olympic Games which has haunted almost every host country, is the huge financial burden brought about by the building of Games venues.

There are plenty of incidents in which the Olympics venues have faded into obscurity or become general-use arenas, or just remain vacant.

For instance, the two main arenas built for the 2004 Games in Athens at the Faliro Bay Complex remain vacant. There are squatters' camps in the adjoining fields, and the open-air swimming pool is unused.

To tackle the problem, authorities in Beijing have been racking their brains to come up with ideas to ensure Olympic venues leave a lasting legacy.

One of the best examples of this is the Wukesong Indoor Stadium, which will become the NBA's first facility in the country, hosting NBA China basketball games.

Among all those plans, how the National Stadium will turn out after remodeling has attracted the most attention.

Li Jianyi, general manager of its operator, a consortium led by State-owned investment group CITIC, said the stadium would mainly host large sports events and entertainment events like pop concerts.

The Bird's Nest will become home to the Beijing Guo'an Football Club, and a sports broker is in talks to invite Real Madrid to play there, Li said.

Hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and shopping malls will also be erected in the second-phase construction surrounding the major building, which will involve an investment of 300 million yuan ($44 million), according to the developers. Such commercial facilities will account for about 35 percent of the total area on completion.

Commercial operations will hopefully cover the huge maintenance costs, expected to be about 50 to 70 million yuan a year, as estimated by Zhang Hengli, the deputy general manager of its operator.

Zhang also expected money to be made from auctioning the naming rights.

Sports fans have welcomed a sports-themed recreation center similar to that run by Manchester United in England.

Yu Yonggang, an Olympic volunteer, said: "It's absolutely necessary as there are just too many people coming to visit the two amazing constructions every day, they need more spots here for fun as well as for relaxation."

Beijing tourism bureau said that the iconic Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, the Olympic core area, will turn into a thematic park combining, catering and entertainment.

But some people say it still needs time to see whether the new recreation center can win enough visitors to make a profit.

Chen Liangwen, a researcher in economics with Peking University who lives near the Olympic Green, said that the 1990 Asian Games didn't boost Beijing's economy.

"The Olympic wind might just last for one or two years. To maintain its momentum, the developers might need to come up with really unique and appealing ideas," said Chen, adding that the recreation center still faces competition from other entertainment venues like the National Theater.

But their unique background and experimental design involving environmentally friendly technology has already made some Olympic-related venues popular with buyers.

For Li Yanbing, a Beijing resident, said the houses in the Olympic Village might be a good choice thanks to their unique location and also the energy-saving and environmentally friendly technology used in their construction.

The changed Olympic Village will be ready in the first half of next year, and 70 percent of its apartments were sold before the Games.

The Bird's Nest will be open for sightseeing during the upcoming National Day holiday, the city's tourism bureau said.

The Olympic torch will remain at the National Stadium in the short term to given sightseeingers a chance to soak up the atmosphere of the event.

Gao Jie, from Anhui province, said it's great that the government has decided to open the venues during the holiday.

"It is a pity that I didn't get a ticket for the Olympic Games and could not visit those venues in August. But I can make my dream during the National Day holiday," Gao said.

(China Daily 09/01/2008 page6)