The complex, which is scheduled to open in the autumn of next year, will be a world-class facility for high performance athletes but it will also be used by schools and clubs across North London, Essex and Hertfordshire.
UK Athletics chief executive Dave Moorcroft said: "I hope it does draw a line under the Picketts Lock affair. This area of London is the strongest area of the UK in potential talent and it needs top-quality facilities. London is a real hot bed of athletics talent. The region often provides 40 per cent of the GB athletics team."
The former 5,000 metres runner dismissed suggestions that it would have been better for the centre to be put into the proposed Olympic Park in east London's Stratford.
Moorcroft said: "The Aquatic Centre and Velodrome which will be built there will be used during the Games. But this facility would not figure in an Olympic Games."
The centre's funding package is made up of £4m from the Government, £7m from Lottery distributor Sport England and £5m from the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority which owns the land.
With facilities at Crystal Palace crumbling, top athletes in London desperately need a modern indoor training facility. Former javelin Olympic medallist Steve Backley said: "Athletes in the South East have been eagerly awaiting this kind of training facility"
.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&quality=75&auto=webp&width=320&crop=8:5,smart)
