According to the Randall's Island Sports Foundation, the 10,000-seat center now under construction for a summer 2004 unveiling will far exceed the expectations of all track and field competitors and spectators. The center will be the only local facility to host international competition and Olympic Trials, and will also be a nexus for the general public including the disabled, and the private and public school community.

The stadium is being built on the former site of the antiquated Downing Stadium, the site of Olympic Trials in 1936 and 1991. The foundation is working together with New York City Economic Development Corporation and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. They selected Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. as construction manager, Hillier as prime architect, and Ricardo Zurita Architecture and Planning, associate architect, to provide design and construction management services for the construction. The facility which will meet IAFF Competition Category 3 requirements to accommodate championships including Olympic trial meets, will have a Mondo track and provide covered stadium seating for 5,000; support facilities for participants and spectators; and an additional 5,000 open bleacher seats.

There will be two 160-foot high light towers that will function dually as a source of light for track and field events, and to illuminate the skyline. The towers, located at opposite ends of the stadium, will also serve as structural piers for a series of suspension cables supporting a slim-profiled, slightly inclined, flat roof that will appear to hover above the stadium seating. Another cable, arching from the base of one tower to a height of 75 feet at the center and back down to the base of the second tower, will stabilize this suspension structure. The stadium's ground level will accommodate locker, training, and storage facilities. A broad staircase, supplemented by an elevator, will provide separate spectator access to the concourse level, with public toilets, concession stands, and through-passageways to the spectator seating, which is oriented to give panoramic views of Manhattan as well as excellent track and field sightlines. All levels provide for wheelchair access and accommodations.