Boris Johnson has vowed to make the legacy of the Olympic park one of his top priorities and promised the site would “open with a bang” next year.
The Mayor, who last month installed himself as chairman of the legacy agency, insisted that he was not “wedded” to a football club moving into the Olympic stadium, the future of which could be decided this month.
He told the Standard: “People’s anxiety and doubt is now going to be projected onto the legacy and I want to make sure I’m there and explain to Londoners what we are doing.
"The London Legacy Development Corporation has a great board and London’s legacy is in a better place than any other previous Olympic city — we are motoring down the track.”
The legacy corporation is due to decide on the stadium’s future at this month’s board meeting. West Ham remain front-runners with three other bidders — a Formula 1 consortium, League One’s Leyton Orient and the UCFB College of Football Business.
The Mayor said: “There are good talks going on.
"But I remain absolutely convinced that the stadium entered into the hearts of the nation — people saw what a wonderful place it was.
"It works as a rock venue and for all sorts of purposes. We are very interested in a football solution but we are by no means wedded to one.”
Last month it emerged the extra cost of converting the stadium could reach £160 million — on top of the £486 million cost of construction.
Negotiations between West Ham and the legacy corporation concern fitting retractable seats at each end of the stadium. The Mayor believes that a profit could be made from a football tenant.
The non-football alternative is to install businesses there and work with concert promoter Live Nation.
One insider said: “West Ham’s requirements for a full-scale conversion are very expensive and they will take longer to construct.
"They want covered seats behind the goals but something like that may delay the reopening — you have to ask why do you need them and how much they cost.
"The stadium is like a cauldron already, the Olympics proved that. The Mayor is personally involved in the reopening — that’s his priority. He wants a football club but not at any cost.”
