The iconic sports venue at Crystal Palace celebrated its 60th anniversary on July 13, marking occasion with official opening of refurbished track

The development of the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, which includes the famous athletics stadium, is currently on track, in a bid to bring the complex back to its former glory.

The project managed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) is scheduled to take five years, with the ultimate aim of international athletics returning to the venue in 2028.

Crystal Palaces 60th anniversary was celebrated this past weekend (July 13), featuring exhibitions of historical sporting moments and interactive sports zones.

It also marked a year into the development of the complex, with the official opening of the refurbished track. The dilapidated surface underwent patch and repair work in two stages last Autumn and over the Spring and has now received accreditation from UK Athletics.

That means Crystal Palace is able to hold both community and regional events/championships, with marks recorded now officially counting on each athletes record.

The equipment has also been re-certified, including the cages for the hammer throw/discus and sand pits for the long jump/triple jump.

Temporary floodlighting was also installed towards the end of last year, allowing clubs and athletes generally to train on the track during the evening in the winter months.

These are described as early works by Ben Woods, Project Director at the GLA for the redevelopment of Crystal Palace.

Woods, who was chosen Sadiq Khan for this role back in January 2023, states that the next aim is to get the the Jubilee Stand back up to full capacity within the year, increasing the possibility of larger scale domestic events this time next season.

The 5000 capacity stand opened in 1977 but can currently seat around 500, due to the fact that ancillary features such as toilets and food/beverage facilities are, as of now, not up to scratch. Even though all the seats are currently fit for purpose, work is still needed to upgrade the main belly of the stand.

The West Stand, which sits on the home straight and hosts the broadcast positions/media tribunes, is scheduled on current projections to open in three to four years. The reason the timeframe of the West Stand is longer is that some of the concrete, both under the seating and across the roof, needs to be repaired. That will also involve scaffolding.

Progress on the West Stand is already underway though. A few hundred seats by the start of the home straight, have already been stripped back and surveys on all of the concrete are complete.

Woods describes the stands at Crystal Palace like a classic car thats been left in the garage, where you need to look underneath the bonnet.

The GLA is also talking to both UK Athletics and England Athletics about progression of the development so far and the wider-reaching long-term plans.

Woods is off to the London Diamond League at the Olympic Stadium this weekend (July 20) and hopes the calibre of athletes competing there can compete at Crystal Palace in the future.

Im seeing the likes of Noah Lyles and Dina Asher-Smith at the Diamond League and Id love to have them back here in a few years, Woods says.

You go round and mention Crystal Palace around the world and people go oh the athletics. Weve got to remember that and build on that history. We need to build something for the next generation. The noise thats generated in this venue, with it being a bowl shape and built into the side of this hill, is unique. Athletes loved it for a reason. It provides both the acoustics and the speed. We can re-create that once again.

I think Crystal Palace has everything you want. It has a uniqueness into its setting. This kind of thing would never get planning permission in the modern world and we need to cherish its setting. Were 100 yards from the mainline station with six direct lines to central London and the South-East.

The stadium has a rich history of world records, with over 20 of them set at the venue since it opened in 1964.

Due Crystal Palaces unique setting of being dug into a hill, its also blisteringly quick. The stadium records in the 100m are held by Tyson Gay and Marion Jones, who ran 9.78 and 10.78 in 2010 and 2000 respectively. Usain Bolt has also competed in both the 100m and 200m at Crystal Palace.

What were looking at is a viable business case for the stadium, Woods adds. The beauty of having these early works, and then creating these emerging business plan talks, is that you can do both in parallel.

You know the kind of exciting things that are happening in athletics right now. If were able to work with these partners, then thatd be fantastic. We want them to come to the party with us and supercharging our vision, through extra commercial investment. We want those conversations.

The re-accredited track is the first of many steps. As part of the 60th anniversary, Liam Conlon the newly elected MP for Beckenham and Penge was invited down to Crystal Palace to officially open the refurbished surface.

Conlon, who at 17 was one of the youngest ever people in the UK to have a hip replacement, wants to also put emphasis on Crystal Palaces ability to be accessible and host para-athletics in the future.

The Labour MP speaks from experience. As a 13-year-old he was involved in an accident and shattered his hip. Before he received a replacement four years later, Conlon was unable to walk. The renovation of Crystal Palace is a project he is fully behind.

Crystal Palace is really important to me, Conlon says. Thousands of people have told me on the doorstep that, when asked what matters most to them, its sorting the redevelopment of the Crystal Palace Sports Centre out. This stadium sits on the corner of Bromley, Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon. Its uniquely positioned to provide opportunities to tens of thousands of young people.

The Paralympics really inspired me in 2012. Im disabled. I had an accident at 13 where I was unable to walk. I shattered my hip and I could only walk again after four years. At 17 I became one of the youngest people in the country to have a hip replacement. I can remember going on the tube and seeing the Paralympics advert, with the Channel 4 slogan of thank you for the warm-up [Olympics].

That was the first time Id seen disabled people represented in an empowering and not a pitying way. So one of the questions I asked the GLA was the accessibility factor and they said, absolutely, thats at the very forefront of the thinking. Sport and athletics has that power to transform the way we see ourselves and each other.

I would love us to host a major global sporting event at Crystal Palace like a Commonwealth Games or some kind of world championships. That would be really special and something that this area of London deserves. Youd have so much enthusiasm and energy from the community.

As part of the early works, the stadium isnt the only thing that has received attention.

The indoor track, which is renowned for flooding when there is heavy rain, has now had water collectors installed on various points of the roof. Temporary pipes have also been fitted, draining the water away before it overflows.

The centre itself a Grade II * listed building has a new soft play area and cafe, while the wooden arena flooring has been re-marked.

More generally, City Hall has also provided a commitment of tens of millions of pounds to de-carbonise the entire Crystal Palace complex. Planning application for the main centre will be submitted next year and the procurement process will begin in the next few months, ahead of sorting the main contractor.

Woods, who was part of the team that helped deliver the 2022 Commonwealth Games, stresses the need for patience around the longer-term ambitions and adds that keeping the facilities open in tangent with the development is paramount.

In regards to whether the stadium at Crystal Palace can be used by multiple sports, he states that theyve been talking to womens football, American football, rugby and various other bodies that are interested about the in-field.

He adds: What I would stress though is that this stadium will always be athletics first. I believe that London deserves a 365-day athletics stadium that works for a city of nine million people. We can then compliment that with a secondary sport.