Crystal Palace Park is to be transferred from Bromley Borough Council to the Crystal Palace Park Trust if certain criteria are met.

A target date of April 1, 2023 has been set for the handover after several years of collaboration on the park’s regeneration.

Crystal Palace Park Trust is to be granted a long-term lease to the park and will take responsibility of its maintenance.

The handover is subject to approval by Bromley Council’s Executive and the Trust achieving its own goals in the coming months.

This includes the continued recruitment of full-time staff and contractors.

They will add a park manager and a volunteer manager to its current team of chief executive, events manager and company secretary.

Crystal Palace Park is an 80-hectare Grade II listed park that was originally designed by Sir Joseph Paxton to provide a home to his Crystal Palace structure.

The Crystal Palace was constructed at the park in 1854 but suffered significant damage in 1936 after a large fire.

The Crystal Palace Park Trust was established by the Bromley borough in 2016 to manage the park and its regeneration.

The trust is set to announce its first physical improvements in the park later this spring.

Bill LoSasso, CEO of Crystal Palace Park Trust, said: “We are delighted to have a timeframe in place for the handover of Crystal Palace Park, and look forward to working with colleagues in Bromley on this important transition.

“Bromley’s Crystal Palace Park Regeneration Plan, developed in partnership with the community, has created the framework for a complete revitalisation of this much-loved park through the innovative model of the Trust.

“I look forward to expanding our dedicated team as we increase investment in the park and engage the community in its continued improvement.”

Philip Kolvin QC, Co-Chair of Crystal Palace Park Trust, said: “The Crystal Palace represented a turning point in world architecture, set in one of the greatest Victorian park landscapes.

“Crystal Palace Park Trust looks forward to working with our community and the many expert park groups to tell that story to a new generation, preserving and enhancing the heritage of this wondrous place, while creating a park which meets the recreational and ecological needs of this generation and those to come.”

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