Question Stadium update please!

[Westcliff DGS]

I do have slight reservations over a 3 sided stadium as atmosphere will disappear through an open side, for me you wont get the intensity we see at roots hall at times by having that open side.

That being said, its obvious we need to move and this is a great step foreward nad the booster club needed.

Maybe we can have 4 sides then build upwards, just thinking optimistically ;)

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I think access to the ground especially for away fans needs consideration and hopefully a bus service either from Southend Vic/Central will be looked at. It’s a fair walk from town with no pubs except the Railway on offer nearby (to my knowledge?) .. assuming that’ll remain a “home” pub as will any bars in the ground itself. Too many grounds are designed without decent transport links and miles away from a station. The plans themselves for the ground I’ve always been happy with.

 

[BriggBlue]

Great news!, ?

As I can't see Hilton eager to have their brand placed in the middle of a housing estate & the Main stand being key to providing non - football finance, what other options could there be to replace a hotel?

The only things I could think of is a leisure centre & restaurants.

Hilton have several different brands so it could well be one of those that has it's name plastered accross the front of the stand.

I'm not sure what leisure people were expecting to be there, it would have most likely been a cinema and things like nandos / pizza hut like most leisure parks. the hotel would likely have got very few people staying there from those type of places.

it also plays into the hotels hands, any guests have to eat there at their prices or drive elsewhere.

until we seen the final plans we won't know for sure but there may well be more space around the stadium now so it feels separate from the housing a bit like donny's ground is separate from the leisure but was the same development

 

[rigsby]

Although BL are not involved anymore, their original model had plans for bars around the ground. Not just the horrible under the stand concourse type but tented areas outside etc.....I don't see any reason as to why we would change that.

 

[Fairport]

The missing fourth side (if that is the plan) may not be the main stand as some have suggested. It is vital that income is made from hospitality, restaurant facilities etc which are usually part of a main stand. I can't see the club not having these in place from the start.

 

[Stuart W]

It does make you wonder as some have said.. who pays for the training ground now?
How will we get any other income at all, unless we use the ground for community work and concerts perhaps.
I don't like the idea IF it is three sided at all ( look at Oxford).. what happens if Hilton back out now as they have no footfall apart from residents?
Are there many hotels built on a hosing estate?
RM gets multi-housing which is what he really wanted all along, but where does that leave us?
Oh and RM and his son own Citizen housing.

Plenty of food for thought in all of this.

Don't you mean plenty of scope for negativity?

 

[BedfordShrimper]

I think we will have 3 sides totalling 14,000, and then construction of the massive Blue Wall North Stand will take place, taking capacity to 56,000 to rival Spurs and Dortmund.

Genuinelly though, this is at least some positive news, even if still not over the line yet.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

We get a stadium, almost, and get our club to survive.
The town gets much needed social housing.

The downsides are that the housing will likely be filled with many from London councils and they won't be sending their finest.
And the crazy plans for the Seaway and High Street with 10s of millions being spent on a project out dated and obsolete already.

And we will get some very rich councillors, profits for the constructors and only Joe Public Tax payer getting robbed blind by it all.

 

[rigsby]

We get a stadium, almost, and get our club to survive.
The town gets much needed social housing.

The downsides are that the housing will likely be filled with many from London councils and they won't be sending their finest.
And the crazy plans for the Seaway and High Street with 10s of millions being spent on a project out dated and obsolete already.

And we will get some very rich councillors, profits for the constructors and only Joe Public Tax payer getting robbed blind by it all.

Obviously someone has to make a profit from a £400m project otherwise we would still be living in caves.

How is anyone being robbed blind?

 

[londonblue]

The missing fourth side (if that is the plan) may not be the main stand as some have suggested. It is vital that income is made from hospitality, restaurant facilities etc which are usually part of a main stand. I can't see the club not having these in place from the start.

If the stadium part of the plans haven't changed then the main stand will be the one that is delayed. That was always how it was phased. Ron was very bullish about that final stand being built pretty soon after the rest though, but then Ron has been bullish for about 15 years...so you can take that any way you want.

Personally I think it's more likely to be soon-ish after!

 

[londonblue]

We get a stadium, almost, and get our club to survive.
The town gets much needed social housing.

The downsides are that the housing will likely be filled with many from London councils and they won't be sending their finest.
And the crazy plans for the Seaway and High Street with 10s of millions being spent on a project out dated and obsolete already.

And we will get some very rich councillors, profits for the constructors and only Joe Public Tax payer getting robbed blind by it all.

How so?

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

The missing fourth side (if that is the plan) may not be the main stand as some have suggested. It is vital that income is made from hospitality, restaurant facilities etc which are usually part of a main stand. I can't see the club not having these in place from the start.

Although your idea makes complete sense, it would appear that the plans for the stadium are going to be unchanged - it always was (in the words of the architect http://stadiumdb.com/designs/eng/southend_united_stadium ) as follows:

The stadium will be built in two phases. First the simple and cheap part: single-tiered C-shaped stands in the west, south and east, holding 13,893 people. Only then the north side would be built, changing the stadium's layout to make it one of the most original among new venues.

The C-Shaped bit was going to be funded by the enabling development - it's only that that has changed - no longer shops and leisure, now housing.

The large north stand was always going to be phase 2 and always part of a separate deal, part of which has already been signed with Hilton http://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/hilton-hotel-signs-new-deal-with-southend-stadium/

So unless Hilton have a get out clause (which they might), I have no reason to believe the stadium will be any different to what was already proposed.

I think the idea that we're getting a smaller stadium is a misunderstanding by the Echo journalist - the press release actually says 14,000 for Phase 1 - that's exactly the same as before.

 

[londonblue]

Although your idea makes complete sense, it would appear that the plans for the stadium are going to be unchanged - it always was (in the words of the architect http://stadiumdb.com/designs/eng/southend_united_stadium ) as follows:



The C-Shaped bit was going to be funded by the enabling development - it's only that that has changed - no longer shops and leisure, now housing.

The large north stand was always going to be phase 2 and always part of a separate deal, part of which has already been signed with Hilton http://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/hilton-hotel-signs-new-deal-with-southend-stadium/

So unless Hilton have a get out clause (which they might), I have no reason to believe the stadium will be any different to what was already proposed.

I think the idea that we're getting a smaller stadium is a misunderstanding by the Echo journalist - the press release actually says 14,000 for Phase 1 - that's exactly the same as before.

Blimey, who wrote that?

The bosses of Hilton house have signed a new deal to construct a 107-room hotel as part of the new stadium complex of Southend’s United.

Looks like we're going into the brewing business too:

This large scale application to shift from Roots Hall not only comprises a 21,000 seater stadium but also flats, hops, restaurants and the hotel.

 

[OldBlueLady]

The only problem with losing the retail arm is the loss of restaurants and such which would have complemented the stadium usage, and potentially, the hotel too.

Sheffield United's ground works perfectly well with just a hotel and a couple of local shops, there's no reason why this wouldn't. It would be well used for corporate functions and social functions outside of matchdays.

 

[kentblues]

If the stadium part of the plans haven't changed then the main stand will be the one that is delayed. That was always how it was phased. Ron was very bullish about that final stand being built pretty soon after the rest though, but then Ron has been bullish for about 15 years...so you can take that any way you want.

Personally I think it's more likely to be soon-ish after!

I think it went from phase 2 not to much later to starting very quickly when Hilton signed up. I am sure the timing was more about have the hotel signed up to fund it. Once the hotel is signed up the the sooner it is built the sooner the revenue streams happen.

 

[londonblue]

I think it went from phase 2 not to much later to starting very quickly when Hilton signed up. I am sure the timing was more about have the hotel signed up to fund it. Once the hotel is signed up the the sooner it is built the sooner the revenue streams happen.

Yes, that was my understanding too. However, it's been a long time since the deal with Hilton was signed, and the plans changing substantially from retail to housing might have an impact on that contract. For the record, this is just speculation on my part so I might be way off the mark, but if it's true they might need to start again on that score...I hope not though.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Obviously someone has to make a profit from a £400m project otherwise we would still be living in caves.

How is anyone being robbed blind?

How was the Seaway car park worth just £1?
Of course it wasn't, who lost out on that deal? Tax payers?
What incentives were there for the council to sign off and sell at that price?

Have you seen the plans for the Queensway Ghetto, which is about phase 4 of the "lets **** up the town and make loads of money" project.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Anyone got Ron's e-mail address? I might drop him a line today

 

[rigsby]

How was the Seaway car park worth just £1?
Of course it wasn't, who lost out on that deal? Tax payers?
What incentives were there for the council to sign off and sell at that price?

Have you seen the plans for the Queensway Ghetto, which is about phase 4 of the "lets **** up the town and make loads of money" project.

I agree but that has nothing to do with FF and RH. Plus the Council will still take a substantial fee in ground rent per year for the Seaway.

There is no point in spending £500m on the Ghetto....If you just put the same wrong'uns back in the new flats. Which is why we should have the stadium there and make it the FF Ghetto. With a parade of take away shops, 24hr medical centre and an off licence with plenty 24hr of strong lager and cider.

Ron could just extend his blue wall around the whole thing and the Town centre could be saved

 

[RHB]

The only problem with losing the retail arm is the loss of restaurants and such which would have complemented the stadium usage, and potentially, the hotel too.

Sheffield United's ground works perfectly well with just a hotel and a couple of local shops, there's no reason why this wouldn't. It would be well used for corporate functions and social functions outside of matchdays.

And for that matter it is only about five minutes drive to London Southend Airport from FF, so it could also be an alternative to the Holiday Inn for travellers.