After 1989 it was used mainly as a bazaar called Jarmark Europa, becoming famous as the place to buy a whole range of goods, most notably clothes, software, hardware and media.

In 1953 the Association of Polish Architects held an open contest for the project of an "Olympic Stadium for the city of Warsaw".

The project involved the construction of an open air oval-shaped Olympic stadium: it contains a football pitch and a 400-metre racing track.

Theoretically, the terraces with wooden benches provided seats for 71,008 people, but during the biggest festivals organised there, it accommodated more than 100,000 spectators.

It housed the most important international football matches and athletics competitions, as well as communist party galas, concerts, and commemorative festivals.

Adjoining the new stadium there are to be erected the following structures: a 15,000-seat indoor arena, a new railway station "Warszawa Stadion", a modern hotel, a covered Olympic swimming pool with seats for 4,000 spectators, a meeting hall and a metro station "Stadion" on a yet-to-be built subway line.