DumbleDelia is Magic 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Excellent news in my opinion. I was a bit surprised at the original cost but I think that because of such a huge demand for tickets next year, it''s good that it is being done. It''s also excellent news for disabled supporters too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NMTD 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Yep - good stuff all round - more seats - more fans - better facilities. I wasn''t expecting to hear anything on this until end of the season..I''m getting a bit confused though over what is happening re costs and number of seats which seems to change with every news release.Originally it was £2.25m or £2.5m (cant remember which exactly) now its £3m. It was going to be 1800 seats now its 1600.This really changes the economics of the stand - and I hope we are not overstretching ourselves - but with the number of season tickets sold I assume the club are figuring that on a purely economic basis we can still afford it even if promotion is not attained. With the new pitch as well that''s £3.65m we are spending on infrastructure alone in the next season. When is the new hotel expected? Anyone know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Who killed the Croutons 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Not absolutely sure when but I think the hotel as has been said before is sort of separate in the funding/building arrangements.Peter - Will there be a week by week update of building progress as per the new stand (which was excellent) or is this to early to ask? Furthermore it would be nice to see an artists impression/draft plans, so we can impress our friends and further annoy the binners!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pete Raven 276 Posted March 31, 2004 Quite possibly. I was thinking of doing some pictures for it over the summer as football sites need new stuff on them when there''s no football. There are, however, one or two issues to address such as access to the ground whilst the pitch and undersoil heating is being replaced, the fact that it takes an hour out of my day to walk there and back, there would be 3 or 4 photos a week at most (inside, outside, builders drinking tea), etc.Regarding artist''s impression of the infill - there probably aren''t any detailed plans of the stand yet as the club has only just announced that it is going ahead. I could be wrong. This artist''s impression still applies though:http://www.pinkun.com/Content/Wallpaper/SouthStand_800.asp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Lyle 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Whilst I welcome the decision to go ahead with the infill especially the great new facilities for disabled fans, £3m seems a lot of money for just 1600 new seats.I don''t want to criticise the board who are doing great things within tight constraints but I would be interested to know why when they are prepared to spend £3m on the infill they have not proceeded with the south stand upper tier. We are all too aware of the difficulty in obtaining casual/season tickets and I would imagine satisfying this demand accompanied by the resulting increase in revenue would be the major aim of the board.I applaud the board''s ambition and understand their hesitation for expanding the capacity with the possibility of an immediate return from the Prem but with around 1600 fans on the season ticket waiting list and a reputed database of 40,000 interested names I feel that the £3m may have been put to better use.I am not trying to have a pop at the board because as I mentioned earlier they do a tremendous job and are fine people but with promotion looming it may be time to speculate on greater returns and then, when the time comes, we can afford the next Huckerby.OTBC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Who killed the Croutons 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Valid point I think but looking at it another way as several previous threads have discussed. Putting another tier on the South Stand would make the ground look even more lopsided than it currently is.Best approach would seem to be 1. Infil (now) 2. Upper tier on City Stand to even the roofs up (established prem +1 year???) 3. Upper tier SS (if demand permits beyond 1 and 2 and ongoing status??)Other devts excluded from this pitch/hotel...IMHO Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James Long 0 Posted March 31, 2004 I think it''s brillaint that this corner is going to be built because then with the the Hotel being built in hopefully the near distant future, CR will be totally enclosed and can make the atmosphere which at the moment is brilliant into Unbelievable because with atmosphere from within an enclosed stadium is brilliant because of better acoustics. £3 million your right does sound a bit too much but hopefully the clever ones from within the club have finely worked this out. The reason I believe DL to the question of why aren''t they putting an extra tier on the South Stand immeadiately is because after a corner infill, if in the future they want to due to ticket demands and popularity increase capacity again then they would double tier the City Stand 1st and I understand that when they change the pitch it will be moved towards the South Stand and will be only a bit further away from the City Stand.With a two tier City Stand the ground will be a enlcosed stadium with 4, two-tiered stands and all of them same height. If we are in the premier in a few years time and doing fantastically well and ok this could if happened be a long time from now and ground capacity needs to increased again then the South Stand will be doubled tiered. I think it a good idea if it happened to double tier the City Stand 1st because if it did happen then all stands would be the same height but if the South Stand was double tiered before the City then you would have a huge South Stand, the 2 ends the same same height and a small City Stand and the ground could look horrible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blacko 0 Posted March 31, 2004 does anyone know why no infill next to the Barclay, is it because they need to blend it in with the hotel? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pyro Pete 1,889 Posted March 31, 2004 Great news, no more freezing cold winds blowing across us lot sat in Block O of the New Stand. Three million quid for a draught excluder? Worth every damn penny.Seriously though, the club had to build a corner stand of some sort to accommodate the disabled fans properly anyhow. So why spend half a million quid on a temporary one that will be knocked down in a few years, when you can build a decent one now? I''m pleased the club intend to do a proper job and are showing disabled supporters more respect. If the demand for tickets is as high as the club claim, then the extra capacity should cover the costs in the long run. I didn''t realise it would be two-tiered though. Any ideas how the builders will match up the differing dimensions of the New Stand and the River End? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NMTD 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Any civil engineers out there on this forum?I wonder if putting in the corner would allow the removal of the floodlight tower supporting the River End roof at that corner.I believe that the towers are structural for both the River End and Barclay, but with new whizzo building techniques would it be possible to support the roof using the structure of the infill / new hotel / new tier on city stand? It would certainly be better to do this if they can, as then there would be no restricted view from the corners. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ca 1 Posted April 1, 2004 Great news for the club,the fans and particularly for all those on the waiting list for a season ticket. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DumbleDelia is Magic 0 Posted April 1, 2004 How high do you think the infill will go? Is it going to link up with the top of the River End? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Who killed the Croutons 0 Posted April 1, 2004 DD would seem logical. Suppose it could look a bit like Charlton''s infils but not so steep (oh and yellow!!)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Lyle 0 Posted April 1, 2004 The architect''s drawing on this site does not show where the River End and infill meet but does seem to show the infill as level in height with the South stand.I agree though that it may look odd if that is the case and assume that these clever architect types have thought of the problem Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
