LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The Aquatics Centre has been
dubbed a masterpiece. The Velodrome has drawn gasps too. And
tens of thousands of those attending the London Games have
caught a glimpse of another unique building on the way - step
forward, "The Cathedral of Sewage".
Olympic fans watching Usain Bolt sprint to glory or Michael
Phelps take his record-breaking bow are being asked to leave the
main venue via Greenway, a renovated pathway taking them away
from busy stations towards the West Ham area of east London.
They pass an unusual building behind high barbed wire that
few Londoners know much about, let alone the American, Hungarian
and Japanese tourists on the path.
Some may recognise it as the Arkham Asylum used in the 2005
film "Batman Begins". But its day job is Abbey Mills Pumping
Station, built in 1868 to remove the stench of raw sewage in the
Thames and still dealing with the biggest overflow of sewage in
London.
Designed in a cruciform plan and heralded as a marvel of
Victorian engineering, it was dubbed "The Cathedral of Sewage"
or "The Temple of Sewage" and is now proving a mystery to
Olympic visitors.
One curious Olympic spectator said she had no idea what it
was, but detected "a faint whiff".
(Reporting by Steve Slater; editing by Michael Holden)