In all seriousness, isn't there some piping (electric / sewage / water ) that has to be moved/re-directed or was that behind the East Stand? Giving how long it's taking for works for pipes to be moved in town, about 3 seasons could pass before any work was finished.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrggggghhhhhjj. I know there are some elderly contributors on here but for no one to highlight it’s probably the only part of the ground that can be developed for standing is frankly, odd. Let’s give the fans the choice of more seats. Just what we need.
Where there's a will there's a way. Unfortunately there doesn't look like much of a will to do anything more than they legally have to at the moment; ownership notwithstanding.
Such as what? The whole facility that is the West stand, it needs updating. Building a new stand with the same capacity would suffice.
The problem with that is it makes no financial sense. I’ve no idea whether these numbers are ‘realistic’ but this should be illustrative. I reckon there’s about 2000 spec capacity currently. Status quo 2000 capacity costs £0 (space for about 1000 more spectators than currently at £25 a game £25,000) Upgrade existing to 5000 capacity and H&S compliant costs £50,000 (space for 4000 more spectators at £25 a game £100,000) Rebuild the stand increase capacity to 6000 would cost a couple of million, does it make financial sense? If we can add value with more corporate facilities, function space etc? Improve the match day experience with a fanzine to keep more spectators there longer? like I said, someone at the club will have more detailed projections than this, but it’s by no means a straightforward case of building a new stand = better.
Outdated media facilities in the stand, changing rooms too small and unusable, constant repairs to bring it up to safety standards for a new season, wood flooring, wooden seating, insufficient space behind the stand for supporters when anywhere near capacity (dangerously so at the Ponty corner) terrible food outlets that are out in the open, toilets nowhere near big enough for the capacity, no ladies or not enough ladies toilets, do they even have a disabled toilet?, no leg room, whole upper tier view obstructed by posts, there's also the look of the stand compared to the rest of the ground, how it's viewed for potential signings (tin pot) would you put your kids in it? (My little ones first game when we're back - we're in the East, hopefully it'll be a better matchday experience for him.) I could go on and on, no need to though as l think once the ground ownership is sorted it'll be rebuilt anyway.
They're waiting for the new bridge to open then they can buy the current one cheap and re purpose it with some reclaimed wriggly tin.
Its not a nightmare or a waste of prime land , it is part of our ground , I sit in and love it . A new roof covering the whole stand , new toilets & refreshment bars would bring it up to an acceptable standard . Please do not mention prime land to our council unless you want it sold & some housing put there !
You could well be right , who knows , but what ever the long terms plans are ,then any problems such as the dreaded asbestos will have to be dealt with at some point .
I understand what you’re saying. But if that was the alternative and we had a stand that looked like theirs, I’d much rather spend money tarting you the west stand in its current state. Make it functional. My preferred choice is to get rid of it and build a more modern stand in its place, one with a central tunnel and a place to have a pre match drop. But I don’t want one of those ugly things they have at Turf Moor.
Yes, but I think it’s the reason they won’t invest in modernisation, to solve the asbestos problem would cost £thousands and modernisation could well be seen as way too expensive. And let’s be honest, sometime, somehow, it’s going to go.
Surely though if it went the asbestos would have to be disposed of at a cost anyway , so which ever way they go there is no cheap rout but a complete new stand would be far more expensive than a revamp.
