Warwick Street, City Stadium

HER Number:
16970

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Warwick Street, City Stadium

Place:
Sandyford

Map Sheet:
NZ36SE

Class:
Recreational

Site Type: Broad:
Racing Sports Site

Site Type: Specific:
Athletics Track

General Period:
20TH CENTURY

Specific Period:
Mid 20th Century 1933 to 1966

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
In March 1950 Newcastle City Council announced plans to lay out a City Stadium on the former Ouseburn refuse tip on Warwick Street. The Ouseburn flowed under the site through a large culvert (HER 5046). The initial plan was to cover the site in soil and turf and lay out a football pitch and cycling and running tracks. The ultimate aim was to build two stands on either side of the track, each to seat 43,000 people. A terrace at the Warwick Street End would accommodate 8,500. This stadium would have been bigger than St. James Park. The site would also house an indoor sports centre with badminton courts and an ice rink. Underneath the stadium would be a multi storey car park. The first phase of the stadium (the football pitch and racing tracks) opened in June 1955. There was a cinder track, a small wooden pavilion and an entrance block. Plans for the grand City Stadium were abandoned and by 1967 the site had fallen into disrepair. Today the site is open parkland with a children's playground and an artificial five-a-side pitch. The cinder running track can still be seen.

Easting:
426080

Northing:
564900

Grid Reference:
NZ426080564900

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Lynn Pearson, 2010, Played in Tyne and Wear - Charting the heritage of people at play, p 124