Kings Park Stadium closure leaves local athletes without track

Kings Park Athletic Stadium has been temporarily closed since December 2025 due to faults on the running track.

The most significant problems emerged from the home straight, raising safety concerns for the top athletes in Bournemouth.

Since the closure, Bournemouth AC athletes have been unable to train at Kings Park, they are awaiting its reopening, which could take until March due to the rainfall.

Bournemouth AC athlete Brooke Ironside said: “You can’t perform without the track and I train at least six times a week, I’m pretty reliant on it.”

The current stadium is expected to reopen in March, provided the re-lay can be completed without any further delay, the work will take place as soon as the weather allows it.

Ironside said: “Really, they should be resurfacing the whole track and the same problem will happen in a few years. The last contractor laid it badly, as when previously laid by another contractor, it lasted for years.”

The King Park Athletic Stadium is a fundamental facility in Bournemouth as it’s the only dedicated athletic stadium in Bournemouth.

It’s been less than five years since the previous refurbishment, in February 2021, which carried out extensive work worth £400,000 for an upgrade funded by the BCP Council and carried out by Cleland Service.

BCP Councillor Rich Herrett said: “During our ongoing conversation around repairs, weve worked to find alternative training spaces for athletes.”

BCP been advised that any further use of the facilities will cause more damage.

Bournemouth AC chairman Tim Hughes said: “About a year ago now, the surface started to break off at the home straight, it wasn’t possible to hold competition last summer.”

There are some group training sessions in Ashdown Leisure Centre in Poole and at the beachfront until the athletic stadium reopens.

Said: “When speaking to other coaches, the numbers are down, it’s not as this time of year we train for summer and the competitions coming up and we want to get ready for that.”

Bournemouth AC believes BCP Council has been very helpful during the process and has kept the groups up to date.

Ironside is currently travelling to Winchester and Andover to conduct training during daylight hours, to get quality training sessions with the facilities.