After months of renovation, funded by crowd funding and hours of dedication from volunteers and staff, the new pavilion at the historic Herne Hill Velodrome will be opened next week.
Herne Hill recently welcomed tour company Exodus Travels on board as a long term sponsor, and their eponymous pavilion will be fully unveiled in Thursday 30th March.
The velodrome, which was used at the 1948 London Olympics, has often been under threat throughout its long history but now its future looks safe.
The pavilion redevelopment is the third and final stage of the 'Save the Velodrome' campaign, the results of which have seen track usage number double since 2012.
The initial two stages were the rebuilding of the main track and the development of a kids' track, which accompanied the installation of floodlighting to the site.
The new pavilion before the scaffold came down. Photo: Carl Ison
All aspects of cycling in Britain have boomed since 2012, in no small part thanks to the victories of Sir Bradley Wiggins that year.
Clouds may have since gathered over the star, but few can dispute his legacy of getting far more people into cycling, and Herne Hill is where it all began for Britain's best ever rider.
Former Shadow Minister for the Olympics Baroness Jowell, local MP Helen Hayes and London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport Val Shawcross are all expected at the opening of the new Exodus Travels Pavilion, ahead of a full weekend of racing to celebrate the velodrome's journey from uncertainity to bright future.
That future is safe for at least 99 years after an agreement was reached with The Dulwich Estate through their working relationship with British Cycling.
Old and new are brought together in the pavilion's structure thanks to the use of six of the original decorated cast iron columns from the 1890s, which will support the grandstand roof.
Chairman of the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust, Hillary Peachey, was thankful to all involved in getting the project to completion.
'It has been a long journey, but I am immensely proud of how the community came together, matched by the generosity of our funders, the project team, the local residents,' she said.
A recent round crowdfunding raised £89,000 in just two weeks, money the Friends of Herne Hill used to fit out the new pavilion.
The old pavilion ahead of the redevelopment. Photo: Carl Ison