Images show ‘Europe’s first indoor snow resort’ hopes for Olympic media centre in Hackney Wick

The company behind the world’s first indoor ski resort in Dubai has released images of its vision for the Olympic media centre in Hackney Wick.

Acer Snowmec, the Birmingham-based firm which created Ski Dubai, has confirmed it wants to transform the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in the north-west corner of the Olympic Park into a 28,500 sq m snow sports and leisure complex after the 2012 Games.

It says ‘Snow in the City’ would be Europe’s first indoor snow resort, including alpine, cross country and freerider skiing as well as bobsleigh runs, ice skating and curling.

The scheme would also contain a sports academy, sporting injuries clinic, shops and catering facilities.

Malcolm Clulow, managing director of Acer Snowmec said: “‘Snow in the City’ certainly delivers on the Olympic legacy promises, breathing new life into the community and its workforce. It will provide a range of apprenticeships and full time real jobs for many years to come. We are building this type of facility all over the world and at last London could be about to be provided with the ‘best of the best’.”

Concerned were raised last week about how this proposal would provide the jobs after 2012.

But a spokesman for the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) told the Hackney Gazette it was “perfectly legitimate” for Acer Snowmec to make an expression on interest and that formal bids from some of the 45 hopefuls would follow later this year.

The bid is being backed by British alpine ski racer and triple Olympian Konrad Bartelski.