Perry Lakes Stadium
The now demolished Perry Lakes Stadium in Underwood Avenue, Floreat, was a multi-purpose stadium adjacent to Perry Lakes in Floreat, built and funded by the State Government and the City of Perth as the main stadium for the 1962 Perth British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The venue had a 5,000-seat grandstand with open air perimeter seating for a further 25,000.
Opening ceremony, 1962 Perth British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The Opening Ceremony for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games took place in scorching 40 degree Celsius heat on the hottest November day in Perth for over 20 years. More than three hundred people in the crowd of 53,000 who attended the ceremony at Perry Lakes Stadium, were treated for heart attacks and heat exhaustion. In the whole previous 65 years, only 10 days with temperatures of 100 degree plus had been recorded in Perth in November. Australian soldiers were pressed into action, ferrying water to competing athletes. As a result, the VII Commonwealth Games are remembered for its 'heat, dust and glory'.
A total of 31 athletics events were contested, of which 21 by male and 10 by female athletes. The competition was affected by hot weather and soldiers from the Australian Army were called upon to supply athletes with water throughout the competition. Heavy wind also affected the programme, with the sprints and jumps most affected by the conditions.
Athletics events results
Many other sporting events have been held at Perry Lakes Stadium over the years such as the local athletics, football and rugby. It was the venue of the Public Schools Association and Associated and Catholic Colleges (ACC) athletics carnivals and was also used for the Cancer Council of Western Australia's Relay for Life. The opening and closing ceremonies for the annual Countryweek sports carnival were also held at the stadium with most sporting events being conducted at McGillivray Oval and UWA sports park.
The outdoor arena that celebrated Perth's debut on the world's sporting stage ran its last race in December 2007. Planning blunders and the city's lack of foresight in failing to convert the Stadium into a venue for more viable sports such as football after the Games rendered the arena a 'white elephant', eventually even being unfit for even its primary tenant - athletics. The crumbling stadium was farwelled by the athletics fraternity with the 2007 Drug Free Track and Field Classic, the last major meeting at the venue.
It's demolition commenced in July 2008, making way for a housing development. Despite being rundown for many years, Perry Lakes Stadium did have its time of glory after the 1962 Games - it was filled to capacity on only one occasion since the Games - when around 30,000 fans attended a Rolling Stones concert on their Voodoo Lounge World Tour on 8th April 1995. The Leighton Ford evangelical crusades of the 1970s, which featured the son-in-law of renowned Christian evangelist Billy Graham, generated crowds of over 20,000 on three of the ten nights of crusades.
Construction of the stadium in 1961
