The concept of an outdoor sporting stadium was initially raised by V. A. Sugathadasa, the Mayor of Colombo (1956–57, 1963–65), the country's first Minister of Sports (1966–70) and Chairman of the National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee.[3] Construction of the stadium commenced on 16 January 1957 and was completed on 16 December 1962.[4][5] The stadium was named after Sugathadasa, as he donated the land it was built on.[6]
In 1991, an indoor stadium was constructed on the site by the Mitsui Company for the 1991 South Asian Games, and was opened by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
The track was first laid in around 1989 and relaid again 1996. In 2002 Rekortan track was laid, which was then relaid in 2012 by the Ministry of Sports however the track failed within two years and currently Sri Lankan athletes were lacking an international track to practice for international meets.[7][8] In 2017 the Minister of Sports, Dayasiri Jayasekara, announced the track would be relaid and was expected to open back to athletes in December 2017.[9] The Sugathadasa Authority took actions to relay the Track again in 2018 and it was reopened to the athletes with IAAF Certified Track and Field Facilities.
