After years of fundraising work, condition survey work to support the restoration of the astonishing Crystal Palace Subway has now started following the award of a contract to the heritage conservation architects Thomas Ford and Partners.
The full restoration is expected to cost around £3.1 million, and the Mayor of London’s Strategic Investment Pot has already committed £2.3 million towards the works.
Bromley Council, which owns the site, expects to receive £500,000 from Historic England and is applying for £296,000 from TfL, as the subway runs under the main road, with £5,000 coming from the Friends of Crystal Palace Subway.
It is hoped the project will eventually remove the structure from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
The works are part of a two-year project that will see some lost parts of the site restored and the fabric made good. The long term, if currently unfunded aim, is to reopen the subway on a permanent basis. The restoration will also allow the council to start looking for a commercial partner for the site, who would fund the cost of visitor facilities at ground level linked through to the Subway.
Although the subway has been occasionally open for tours, while the restoration works are underway, the Friends of Crystal Palace Subway say that they won’t be able to open the site to the public.
The restoration is currently programmed for completion and reopening to the public in late Summer 2022.
Could we make direct contact please?
I am Secretary of Sydenham Hill Ridge Neighbourhood Forum which was designated in February 2020 by Lewisham & Southwark.
Thanks
BR
Stephen (Weil)