How `naff' is the design for the Globe Arena north terrace?

[Ned]

Is there an artist’s impression what the north terrace will look like when finished because from what I can see it is going to be a replica of the Christie Park car wash (dreadful). Previously I assumed it would be a decent sized terrace (without the roof) but in the absence of any steelwork I have to assume it is going to be a few concrete steps with the ball being kicked out of the ground every time it goes out of play on that side. The two sides of a football ground are the showcase of a stadium and although the new main stand and front are impressive one is quickly brought back to non league mode when looking across from the main stand as you are faced with an image of the car wash, Giant Axe or Burscough! A third of the north side is taken up with a community building and it looks like the rest is just for a few souls to try and disguise the perception of a 3 sided ground. For sure it isn’t going to win any design awards and it will certainly convince other clubs looking at stadium builds how not to do it. I understand officials from Fleetwood FC have visited the ground and have noted similar concerns. In fact once their new £5 million main stand is built their ground will be impressive with covered stands on all 4 sides, a pre-requisite from their board. One wonders were all their funding has come from. Meanwhile back at the Globe we need to ensure any TV cameras are placed on the north terrace looking across (for image reasons).

[thegentlegiant]

YAWNS

[broadwayshrimp]

Ned where have you been. Of course it's been difficult for you to have a go at the team lately because they continue to defy expectations. So I presume this is why you have turned your attention to the new ground. We are all disappointed that this terrace will not be covered but as I understand it is for one simple reason, cost. If you've got a few bob to spare maybe we could bring this stage of the development forward. Just be thankful we're getting a new ground eh.

[Jody]

Oh Ned, its such a shame you don't like it. The rumour on the grapevine is they built that stand especially for you, so you could whinge and moan to your hearts content without anyone else being able to hear you. I even heard it was to be named the Positivity Stand in honour of Morecambe's most vibrant and appreciative fan ever.

[Mark S]

Brilliant!

Nothing to moan about footballwise but clearly has a compulsion and need to moan about something.

Moaning about a muti million pound brand new development that secures our future!

[George Dawes]

i must admit am still pretty disappointed about with the brand new ground with a stand now with no roof on


i was speaking a bit back to a building surveyor who i know through work he said roughly speaking you would be looking at £200.000 to £300.000 out of 12million in change and it would certainly be a lot cheaper with the building site man power and machinery already there now and it's actually cheaper to get work done now by builders etc, because off the recession people want the work and take price cuts


and to say the globe who are building it are also sponsoring it something wrong somewhere




it's like being a first time buyer with your first house and your wife says whys the conservatory got no roof on and you say in reply to your Wife ah well i thought id hold some money back love and sort it out in a few years when i can be arsed

[ezz]

Extra cost?? Extra time to build?? Could be on a tight time scehdule for finishing the stadium. If globe are putting their names on it to show off their work maybe they could do it for free
But in all fairness the main stand looks that good nobody will bat an eyelid to the other side

[heysham_mfc]

As long as it looks proffesional and did look like a few steps someone has biuld in thier back garden I don't think people will mind too much plus the community block is taking up a bit of the space so don't think it will be too bad.

[RedRedWine1]

Am I right in thinking that we'll be able to get a grant to build the north side at the end of next season? If so could this be a reason why we've not elected to build a propperstand on that side of the ground? Not that we need the extra capacity!

[Gnasher]

Ned is such a little ray of sunshine, with him in attendance, who needs a roof?

[Morecambe Jack]

Are the grants available for terraced stands? I think I read somewhere (not necessarily a reliable source) that grants are only available for seated stands so any developments to thats side using grant money would mean that it would have to be turned into a seated stand...?

[heysham_mfc]

I though that you could only get a grant to bring the ground up to football leauge standard

[Harry]

Are the grants available for terraced stands? I think I read somewhere (not necessarily a reliable source) that grants are only available for seated stands so any developments to thats side using grant money would mean that it would have to be turned into a seated stand...?

If that's the case, why not use grant money to build a seated stand? It would make the ground look better and there's no point having standing for its own sake.

[Number 1]

On December 1st last year, Ned wrote:

"Whilst I understand the financial reasons for not having a roof on the terracing opposite the main stand this is very bad news for the cosmetics of the stadium and will create an unsightly and unfinished image. Short sighted posters believe the terracing is a larger version of the car wash which would not attract many spectators. I put it to you that if the roof had been retained the terracing would gradually have taken over as the place to be as it provides a better overview of the match. The majority of clubs appear to give priority to the 2 sides of the ground and I can’t think of a new stadium that has not got a roof down both sides.
However people try to justify the decision, the roof will never be put on in the foreseeable future. The directors have done their best for which we must be thankful, but we have already reduced the capacity by 800 and now this means we will have the most basic of new builds and may not stand comparison with other new builds."

It now seems that rather than being understanding about the financial constraints, Ned has now chosen to completely "Diss" the efforts of the board in getting the club a new ground because it won't be up to Ned's high standards.

I'm sure everyone would love the club to have a brand spanking all singing all dancing stand opposite the main stand, but the club have chosen, wisely in my opinion, to maximise potential earnings from the stadium at this stage, that is to have the maximum facility available for hospitality and conference and events, and also the community side. Spending money on making that side of the ground "Cosmetically appealing", in my view, is money wasted if it means we can't spend money on something which will bring in more revenue.

Having said all that, I do agree with Ned in that it will look a bit naff when you see the rest of the ground, but at the end of the day, unless someone comes in with half a million quid to make it better, then we have to trust the board to do what is best for the club at this stage, and what is best for the bigger picture.

How about a big mural Arsenal like?:

[George Dawes]

Are the grants available for terraced stands? I think I read somewhere (not necessarily a reliable source) that grants are only available for seated stands so any developments to thats side using grant money would mean that it would have to be turned into a seated stand...?

If that's the case, why not use grant money to build a seated stand? It would make the ground look better and there's no point having standing for its own sake.

i totaly agree

[Christies Child]

Why waste a further 6 figure sum just to create a stand all for the sake of better visual appeal that will hardly ever be fully utilised. We all would have liked a 4 sided Arena but finance dictates otherwise.

With regards to the financing of it. The question was asked at the Annual Share Holders meeting and assurances were given that the club would not go into debt after having cleared itself of all previous debt during the last financial year and that includes repayment of all Director loans.

Also I'd much rather we saw an extension to the community block maybe for use as an office block on the same level as the first floor of the community block but with covered space beneath to house fans. That way it would be bringing additional revenue into the club.

As for the ball dissappearing into the yonder, take a look at the Shots ground behind one goal and see what they have done by the installation of tall advertising frames. I bet they are a nice little earner for the club.

I'll be very proud of the Arena on completion....oh and as for the Fleetwood ground, one side still has the stand used when we played them complete with the original wooden seats I wouldn't be surprised.

[taz]

i must admit am still pretty disappointed about with the brand new ground with a stand now with no roof on


i was speaking a bit back to a building surveyor who i know through work he said roughly speaking you would be looking at £200.000 to £300.000 out of 12million in change and it would certainly be a lot cheaper with the building site man power and machinery already there now and it's actually cheaper to get work done now by builders etc, because off the recession people want the work and take price cuts


and to say the globe who are building it are also sponsoring it something wrong somewhere




it's like being a first time buyer with your first house and your wife says whys the conservatory got no roof on and you say in reply to your Wife ah well i thought id hold some money back love and sort it out in a few years when i can be arsed

Another way of looking at it is your a first time buyer with a small budget.You and your spouse by a starter house and in a year or two have children so you build an extension.As your family grows you improve your home.As Morecambe fc grows and improves it will improve its new home to cope.Think of the new stadium as a starter home with all the space needed for expansion.

[morecambe mick]

i must admit am still pretty disappointed about with the brand new ground with a stand now with no roof on


i was speaking a bit back to a building surveyor who i know through work he said roughly speaking you would be looking at £200.000 to £300.000 out of 12million in change and it would certainly be a lot cheaper with the building site man power and machinery already there now and it's actually cheaper to get work done now by builders etc, because off the recession people want the work and take price cuts


and to say the globe who are building it are also sponsoring it something wrong somewhere




it's like being a first time buyer with your first house and your wife says whys the conservatory got no roof on and you say in reply to your Wife ah well i thought id hold some money back love and sort it out in a few years when i can be arsed

Another way of looking at it is your a first time buyer with a small budget.You and your spouse by a starter house and in a year or two have children so you build an extension.As your family grows you improve your home.As Morecambe fc grows and improves it will improve its new home to cope.Think of the new stadium as a starter home with all the space needed for expansion.

With the planning permission already granted.

[Freez]

Fleetwood have a covered terrace behind one goal, half a covered terrace behind the other with the rest as flat ground and half a side with a coveresd seated stand. So even when they get the currently open side stand built, they will still have the equivalent of a side or an end uncovered with no terracing at all!! So the actual facts do not fit your argument, I am sorry to say!!

[Heysham_Shrimp]

Fleetwood have a covered terrace behind one goal, half a covered terrace behind the other with the rest as flat ground and half a side with a coveresd seated stand. So even when they get the currently open side stand built, they will still have the equivalent of a side or an end uncovered with no terracing at all!! So the actual facts do not fit your argument, I am sorry to say!!

not to mention that they are still in Conference North and even if they get into the Conference only a very remote chance of moving up from there.

[harrys dad]

Fleetwood are one of many clubs who are overreaching themselves using the personal money of one man. If, or when, he gets bored they will be bust. Their current budget is bigger than most teams in the Conference Prem, yet they are faltering in their promotion bid and may have to settle for the playoffs in BSN.

To my mind this way of running a club is a curse on football at all levels.

As a newcomer here (and a longtime Kidderminster Harriers fan) I would have to say that every fans forum message board seems to have someone like Ned, for whom nothing can be good enough. The club is getting a new ground, is at its highest level in the league ever, and still he moans, no pleasing some people.

[Keith]

i was speaking a bit back to a building surveyor who i know through work he said roughly speaking you would be looking at £200.000 to £300.000 out of 12million in change and it would certainly be a lot cheaper with the building site man power and machinery already there now and it's actually cheaper to get work done now by builders etc, because off the recession people want the work and take price cuts


and to say the globe who are building it are also sponsoring it something wrong somewhere

You appear to be assuming that we haven't already got an incredibly good deal already? Perhaps we're getting (for example) £14 million worth of building work for £12 million? (made up figures off the top of my head). It's easy to say 'only' £200,000 to £300,000 when it isn't your £200k to £300k!

As for Ned, he's just a wind up merchant who only sings when he's whining!

[Stanley Bowles]

Is there an artist’s impression what the north terrace will look like when finished because from what I can see it is going to be a replica of the Christie Park car wash (dreadful). Previously I assumed it would be a decent sized terrace (without the roof) but in the absence of any steelwork I have to assume it is going to be a few concrete steps with the ball being kicked out of the ground every time it goes out of play on that side. The two sides of a football ground are the showcase of a stadium and although the new main stand and front are impressive one is quickly brought back to non league mode when looking across from the main stand as you are faced with an image of the car wash, Giant Axe or Burscough! A third of the north side is taken up with a community building and it looks like the rest is just for a few souls to try and disguise the perception of a 3 sided ground. For sure it isn’t going to win any design awards and it will certainly convince other clubs looking at stadium builds how not to do it. I understand officials from Fleetwood FC have visited the ground and have noted similar concerns. In fact once their new £5 million main stand is built their ground will be impressive with covered stands on all 4 sides, a pre-requisite from their board. One wonders were all their funding has come from. Meanwhile back at the Globe we need to ensure any TV cameras are placed on the north terrace looking across (for image reasons).

We have all missed your negativity ,but it would be nice if you came back next season when the Shrimps are in a relegation battle in League 1(3rd Division) with Leeds United

[shrimper]

Had a walk round the stadium yesterday and a very interesting chat with someone involved at the club.

A few points.

The main stand is going to be very impressive and the function facilities there will, I'm absolutely certain, become the top venue in the district for weddings, works parties, conferences and anything else that it hosts.

Also the view from the main stand is great, making the rest of the stadium look impressive as well.

Stood on the home end terrace which will be more compact (obviously) than the current North Stand but still big enough for a couple of thousand all to have a good view. Also the roof goes out far enough to make sure the noise will be encapsulated and directed outwards instead of up into the ether. I got a real feel of 'atmosphere' in there.

Yes, the 'car wash' side will look a bit bare for now but the community block will look smart when finished and the TV gantry will go on that side.


The chap I spoke to was saying that, yes, as we know some of the tenders for work came in a bit higher than they expected but other things affected the 'scaling down' as well.

A lot of the public bodies that were giving out grants for sporting facilities (or for 'partnership' agreements with people like health authorites) have had to tighten their belts in the recession and aren't being as generous nowadays. Some of the funding sources the club had anticipated have dried up for now.

Also I think it's reasonable to assume that the dramatic drop in interest rates in the last few years has meant the interest we'd hoped for from the Sainsbury's money sitting in the club's account has taken a significant nosedive.

So the club (again we know this but it's worth repeating) HAS concentrated on the areas of the stadium which will bring them a good, regular and immediate return. And that IS the whole point of this move.

BUT, the stadium design initially did include things like a roof on the far side, enclosed corners with, perhaps, scope for more hospitality or office accommodation there (able to be leased out during the week), bigger capacity at various parts of the ground etc.

The design and build has merely had these elements taken out (for now) but generally has stayed the same, leaving the option for all or most of that to be added if and when the cash is available.

Which, to me, makes good sense.

[Christies Child]

I think it's also worth pointing out to a few that the £12million cost for the project includes quite a few additional areas of expenditure that Chesterfield who are also building a new 10,000 all seater stadium for £11.5 million have not included in their development.

As I understand it, we've had to relocate Westgate Wanderers at a cost of a new changing complex and work on their new pitch, in addition to purchasing the land for the Globe Arena.

We're also providing considerable sporting facilities for the area which will cost a fair bit of money, as well as creating our own all weather training ground which will not come cheap by any means.

Everybody knows the problems with drainage in the area and to compensate for that I'm sure that a lot of work has had to be undertaken to ensure that the drainage issue is overcome.

Taking that little lot into consideration then I'm surprised that we've got away with the £12 million.

As for future development of the partial open side, I'm confident that when funds from whatever source are available and that there is a definate need then the Board as always will look at the situation and take the appropriate action for the long term financial stability of our club.

In my opinion there's no point in developing a 10,000 all seater stadium if gates don't justify it, just for the sake of being 'visually attractive'.