Apparently it was full of asbestos (isn't everything in Australia from that time) and given its location in the heart of the fashionable Western suburbs, the ground and majestic grandstand was always destined to meet the dozers.
Landcorp have developed the site for executive housing which they have creatively called "Perry Lakes". Marketers have squarely targeted the Boomers and Xgens who will reminisce with fondness their youth and better days, and dig deep for the $1m for 500 square metres of deemed heritage land.
So what has become of athletics in Perth? Over the road from the old site, we now have the new State Athletics Stadium which is by all accounts a much better prospect for those serious about running fast and jumping high. But utterly charmless. Maybe it was built on a budget, but the grandstand does nowt for me.
I was there today. Not doing anything energetic myself, I hasten to add.
But there is hope! Back at the old Perry Lakes site the original scoreboard still stands, like a mini stadia in itself, echoing the materials and lines of the now ghost grandstand. I'm optimistically thinking it might be turned in into a cafe or kiosk, as a nod (hate that expression) to the mid-century styling that dominated this pocket of Perth and the memories of so many, of decades gone. Or maybe they've just not got round to bowling it yet.
