‘There’s no downside to redeveloping Crystal Palace’ says Khan as work finally begins to bring the former National Sports Centre back into working order – perhaps even as part of a bid for London to host the 2040 Olympics
Plans were unveiled today for the £130million refurbishment of the long-neglected Crystal Palace sports centre which should finally bring the athletics stadium and swimming pools fully back into use, both by the community across south London, but also for elite international events.
Centre of attention: the Grade II*-listed sports hall and pools will need much work
The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, even sees Crystal Palace forming an important part of London’s bid to host the Olympic Games in 2040.
“I am committed to this once-in-a-generation redevelopment of the site which will secure its future for decades to come,” the London Mayor said in releasing the long-awaited refurbishment plans.
Top track and field meetings, which from the 1960s through to 2010 saw Crystal Palace as the home of British athletics, could return. “I want to see Diamond League events at Crystal Palace,” the Mayor said. “It’s been neglected but I want Crystal Palace to be restored to its former glory.
“There’s no downside to redeveloping Crystal Palace. The community will benefit, the restaurants will benefit, the public transport will benefit, the parks will benefit.”
Today’s announcement comes in the week that another long-overdue restoration project, to spruce up and modernise Crystal Palace Park, in which the sports centre sits, has got underway with a budget of £52million.
The park and the sports centre were both victims of the neglect which followed the disbandment of the Greater London Council, and the loss of a strategic authority for the capital. This was followed by a switch in sporting resources in the capital to Stratford for the 2012 Olympics. Crystal Palace was supposed to become a “legacy” venue post-Games, but national government austerity and then covid saw those promises abandoned.
Splashing the cash: the pools at Crystal Palace have been dry since 2020
The 50-metre swimming pool and diving pool – once the country’s pre-eminent venues for their sports – have lain unused since 2020, when drained and significant cracks were discovered in the 60-year-old structure.
Today’s announcement comes two years since Mayor Sir Sadiq appointed Ben Woods as project manager. Woods has now engaged the services of a contractor, Morgan Sindall Construction, to modernise the centre with a stunning “once-in-a-generation” restoration plan.
The site includes some significant constraints, such as the Grade II*-listing of the main building, which is recognised for its engineering-leading use of concrete when the centre was built in the early 1960s.
Abandoned: the long-term neglect of the facilities has been a little-noticed national scandal
In the latest plans, a 200-metre outdoor track and 100-metre indoor sprinting facility will sit between the sports hall and athletics stadium. “It’s great for the project that the planning application we submit later this year will be for the whole centre,” Woods said.
A recent report for City Hall – seen as laying the groundwork for London’s bid to stage the Olympic Games for a fourth time – outlined the value of sport to the economy. According to The Times, the Mayor “also sees the importance of inspiring future generations to participate at elite and amateur level”.
“I grew up watching Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Daley Thompson competing at Crystal Palace. They were magical nights,” the Mayor said, apparently having missed the performances of Sally Gunnell, Tessa Sanderson, Denise Lewis or Paula Radcliffe…
Opened in 1964 as the National Sports Centre, the venue also includes weights rooms, a large gym, a trampolining room (essential not only for gymnasts, but also for the highly regarded diving school which was once based there) and a multitude of other indoor and external sports facilities.
Before that, the site, as part of the great Crystal Palace Victorian theme park which stood at the top of Sydenham Hill, it already had a century’s worth of sporting heritage which included a cricket team managed by WG Grace, the staging of rugby union international matches and hosting the FA Cup final between 1895 and 1914.
In more recent times, the sports centre was home to London’s rugby league and American football franchises, played host to arena music concerts, and hosted a special event for the visit of Pope John Paul II.
Yet by 2021, the pools were dry and even the floodlights for the track no longer worked and needed to be removed urgently because of a risk of collapse.
Concept work: contractors are due to begin their work on the site today
Today’s announcement included “concept images showcasing how the centre is being developed to look in three years”.
Morgan Sindall will begin a pre-construction period immediately, which will include detailed applications for planning and listed building consent. Major works are planned to commence in the second half of 2026.
“The comprehensive redevelopment will include a complete rebuild of the swimming pools’ structure and improved sporting facilities,” a statement from the Mayor’s office said.
“A number of short-term improvements have already taken place over the past 12 months, including repairing the athletics track, installing temporary floodlighting, creating a café and soft play facility and upgrading the fitness gym.”
The announcement is a triumph for the community-led Crystal Palace Sports Partnership, including people such as former policeman and elite athlete coach John Powell, who have been lobbying hard and widely for more than a decade to get the invaluable facilities maintained to a decent standard for generations to come.
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