Ambitious plans to revamp Victoria Park are underway and Tower Hamlets council hope to have the facelift completed in time for next year’s Olympic Games.

Grants of �12 million have been secured towards a programme of works which will completely overhaul parts of the Victorian park.

The investment from the Big Lottery and Heritage Lottery funds and Tower Hamlets council is the biggest since the park’s creation in the 1840s.

The Victoria and Alexandra and Pools playgrounds will get new apparatus, will be trebled in size and transformed into an under-fives’ play area.

Replicas of the Dogs of Alcibiades statues are in place at the Bonner Gates and the real stone statues, currently being restored, will eventually find a home in the “Eastern Hub Building” housing a caf�, community room and park managers office once complete.

Other plans include a new ‘Wheelpark’ to cater for skaters and bikers and improving the water quality of the East and West Lakes through drainage and de-silting.

A third island is also to be introduced on the West Lake with two new bridges.

The Old English Gardens are also to be refurbished and the Burdett Coutts Fountain will be restored to provide drinking water to park users.

A masterplan for the whole site and further information can be viewed at towerhamlets.gov.uk/park.