Once upon a time in Crawley – November 30 1974 to be precise – the Prime Minister opened the town’s brand new leisure centre.
The event was commemorated on two plaques, bearing the names of Harold Wilson himself, alongside the great and good responsible for the new building.
Some 30 years later that leisure centre closed to make way for the bigger, brighter, state-of-the-art K2.
As the bulldozers moved in to flatten the old building, the plaques were put in a safe place – the Emergency Control Bunker beneath the old town hall – where they sat for 20 years.
It was only when the town hall was being cleared out, ready for its own demolition, that they came to light again.
Now, 50 years after first being unveiled, they are on display at K2 for all to see.
Crawley Borough Council leader Michael Jones said: “I was determined that this beautiful piece of work…should not remain sitting unseen in my office for long, but brought out to be on public display once more as a permanent reminder to our users that Crawley Borough Council has provided sporting and leisure facilities for many years and will, I hope, do so for many years to come.”
The town certainly has reasons to be proud of its sporting heritage – former England manager Gareth Southgate is a Crawley lad, as is boxing champ Alan Minter.
Then there’s medal-winning Paralympian cyclist Katie-George Dunlevy, pole vaulter Nick Buckfield, and world lifesaving champion Zara WIlliams, to name but a few.
The unveiling of the plaques was watched by a special guest. Barry Richards was one of the borough councillors who watched Harold Wilson do the job the first time around, and he drove down from Oxfordshire to be there again.
While acknowledging the achievements of the top athletes nurtured by the town, Mr Jones said: “Beyond this elite level success however, sport plays a vital role in health and well-being for our residents.
“K2 Crawley now achieves around 1.4 million visits per annum, significantly beyond the 1 million expected when K2 was built, which in itself was nearly double the number of visits to the old Crawley Leisure Centre.
“Sport is also really valuable in bringing our communities together and we can see the variety of activities which K2 Crawley offers continue to evidence that sport really is for all.”
