The venue once considered the home of UK athletics has closed its doors after being "managed into a state of disrepair."
On Friday, the site of the Crystal Palace Stadium in London was closed amid emergency circumstances with Greenwich Leisure Limited citing urgent safety concerns. The authority, which operates the venue, said the concrete pillars that hold up the floodlights had been deemed unsafe.
There is as yet no word on when or if the stadium, that opened in 1964 and for over a decade hosted the annual London Grand Prix, will be able to reopen. The indoor track also has leakages with surface puddles having formed, as well as animal excrement on the outside stands.
The 2012 London Olympics proved the trigger to move events away from Crystal Palace and instead use venues all across England. Since then, the site has been used as a community sports centre and fallen into an apparent state of disrepair.
In a statement released to the Mirror on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Greater London Authority (GLA), said: “The GLA has temporarily closed all of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre after discovering that the pillars supporting the floodlights at the stadium are not safe.
“Due to this urgent safety issue, and the requirement to maintain exclusion zones around each of the floodlights, Bromley Council has also needed to close some sections of Crystal Palace Park. The GLA recognises that this is very frustrating for all users of the site. We apologise for this disruption and are urgently working with the centre operator and Bromley Council on minimising the impacts of the closures."
The authority also outlined plans to get the centre back up and running in the new year: “We are committed to the comprehensive renovation of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre so that it can deliver positive sporting, community, health and wellbeing outcomes for Londoners," the spokesperson added.
“That is why we have allocated a significant capital budget for the renovation of the centre and appointed contractors to help develop a detailed plan for the works. It is anticipated that a construction schedule will be announced in the early months of 2023. The GLA is keeping in close contact with local stakeholders and centre users as plans are developed.”
The stadium has played host to icons like Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, and Michael Johnson over the years, and the saga has prompted scathing words from former British sprinter Donovan Reid. The athlete-turned-coach competed in the men's 100m final in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and has utilised the stadium for 30 years.
"To categorise it as a bit of a mess, is like saying the pandemic was a cold. It's more than a bit of a mess," he told the BBC. "We would love it if work to make it safe can be done and then they can start its development. What we don't want is for someone to shut it down completely.
"I have young athletes who I believe can make the Commonwealth, Olympic and World teams and their training is being stifled," he added. Reid also revealed that following the impromptu closer, on Saturday he drove 24 of his athletes more than two hours to train at a track in north London.
John Powell, chair of Crystal Palace Sports Partnership, was equally critical, saying: "It was an iconic sporting venue but now it's being abandoned and left to rot. Nothing solid has been done to resolve the issues. A cynic would say that was always on the agenda. Issues come up time and again to stall everything."
