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supertown |
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Some would say too reliant and want to go door to door in their cars. We need to move away from the reliance on cars.
I walk to BP and back every game, which is a bit over a mile each way. Surely even those who come in from out of town in a car can find somewhere to park in the radius of a mile from the ground and walk the rest, or jump on a bus.
I walk about 3 and half miles home but via a few pubs !
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TinklerMan |
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Looking at pictures of the roof line of the main stand and the Osmond end stand, in my opinion the roof height doesn't actually have to be made much higher, or even any higher at all.
The roof is presently a double pitch. A cantilever stand, single pitch, could actually be constructed on both of those sides of the ground, and this could commence at the property perimeters which would give the stand about 3-4 metres of additional depth.
The design of these could be in such a manner that the walkways at the rear of the existing stands, merely become incorporated beneath the stand. There would be sufficient entrance and exit space, both in terms of volume and safety, since it looks likes there is already two access and exit points on both sides.
With a clever design and engineering, there is also scope to increase seating in what appears to be wasted space at the moment, where what appears to be old terracing between the Osmond and Main Stand.
I would also suggest that there is scope to extend into the area where the Fan Zone is, and the other two open corners too. Again utilising space beneath.
In my view, Blundell Park could probably become a decent 10,000 - 12,000 stadium by utilising clever design.
I like Blundell Park, and I'd like to see us stay where it is. Parking is a problem yes. But it's no worse than many other grounds that I've been to over the years.
Just out of interest, I wonder how many properties border those two stands and what the average value is of each. Might be a case for a property acquisition and relocation scheme, conditional upon every property owner being onboard. I'd love someone to calculate the probable cost of purchasing the houses on Neville Street and Harrington Street. Probably a bit adventurous, but it would be an interesting exercise all the same.
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TinklerMan |
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Looking at pictures of the roof line of the main stand and the Osmond end stand, in my opinion the roof height doesn't actually have to be made much higher, or even any higher at all.
The roof is presently a double pitch. A canter levered stand, single pitch, could actually be constructed on both of those sides of the ground, and this could commence at the property perimeters which would give the stand about 3-4 metres of additional depth.
The design of these could be in such a manner that the walkways at the rear of the existing stands, merely become incorporated beneath the stand. There would be sufficient entrance and exit space, both in terms of volume and safety, since it looks likes there is already two access and exit points on both sides.
With a clever design and engineering, there is also scope to increase seating in what appears to be wasted space at the moment, where what appears to be old terracing between the Osmond and Main Stand.
I would also suggest that there is scope to extend into the area where the Fan Zone is, and the other two open corners too. Again utilising space beneath.
In my view, Blundell Park could probably become a decent 10,000 - 12,000 stadium by utilising clever design.
I like Blundell Park, and I'd like to see us stay where it is. Parking is a problem yes. But it's no worse than many other grounds that I've been to over the years.
Just out of interest, I wonder how many properties border those two stands and what the average value is of each. Might be a case for a property acquisition and relocation scheme, conditional upon every property owner being onboard. I'd love someone to calculate the probable cost of purchasing the houses on Neville Street and Harrington Street. Probably a bit adventurous, but it would be an interesting exercise all the same.
Looks like 42x properties that border the ground on Neville Street and Harrington, directly behind the two stands. If the club could instigate an all-in property purchase and relocation scheme say at an average price of £80,000 per property, that would be circa £3.4 million of property acquisition. If you then factor in maybe some additional legal charges, and then clearance of the ground etc. then maybe £4.5 million buys you a lot of land on which to further develop the stadium.
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White_shorts |
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In my view, Blundell Park could probably become a decent 10,000 - 12,000 stadium by utilising clever design.
I like Blundell Park, and I'd like to see us stay where it is. Parking is a problem yes. But it's no worse than many other grounds that I've been to over the years.
Just out of interest, I wonder how many properties border those two stands and what the average value is of each. Might be a case for a property acquisition and relocation scheme, conditional upon every property owner being onboard. I'd love someone to calculate the probable cost of purchasing the houses on Neville Street and Harrington Street. Probably a bit adventurous, but it would be an interesting exercise all the same.
I doubt the club would get planning permission to increase the capacity of Blundell Park, as it is surrounded by houses with no parking provision. What do you like about BP that could not be replicated at Freeman Street?
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KingstonMariner |
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Think you might be a bit low on your estimate TM. Quick look on Right Move shows nothing on those two streets (usually there’s loads for sale on Harrington St) but there’s one on Imperial Ave for £93k. Wouldn’t this sort of situation add a premium to the price too?
No idea of what the demolition costs would be for those houses. Then you’ve got the groundwork and construction costs. Several £ millions. So you might you end up with something north of £10m? Not including loss of revenue whilst the stands are rebuilt as inevitably it will take longer than the close season.
What do you reckon it would gain us in terms of seats and facilities? Assuming the whole process costs £12m and we add 3000 seats that would be £4K a seat which would be covered in 15-20 years depending on interest rates and ticket prices.
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BobbyCummingsTackle |
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You have to look beyond just the stands and capacity.
The infrastructure of Blundell Park is very poor - the changing rooms are tiny and there's very limited space for showers etc.
The office space is limited for non football staff. Access to the ground on the Main Stand side is difficult compared to modern grounds. The Main Stand itself is like a relic from a Lowry painting.
The club will want to improve their income from non football activities and the ground just isn't prepared for that (it was about the only thing I ever agreed with the Principle Funder on).
I think the only way we could redevelop BP would be by knocking it down and effectively building a new stadium on the site. Long term I believe we will have to move to a new ground.
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Poojah |
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While we’re on the subject of redeveloping BP, I came across this photo of the ground earlier, supposedly from 1900.
[img]https://www.lincsinspirelibraries.com/documents/434853/436099/Blundell+Park+1900+A2/a04aa283-df6a-42f7-affc-d42e482a58ef?t=1385812265187[/img] I can’t quite fathom what stand that is. It’s clearly behind the goal, and it does bare some resemblance to the Osmond when you look at the photo below, but there’s no sign of the Main Stand which I’d always thought was built at the same time. Could it be the original Pontoon?
[img]https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/grimsby-town-blundell-park-osmond-stand-1-1970s-legendary-football-grounds.jpg[/img]
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TownSNAFU5 |
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Great photo. The Main Stand was built in 1903 I understand. Nearly 2 centuries ago. So old that Butch Cassidy and The Sundance we’re still around for a few years.
Blundell Park is well past it’s sell-by date. Not viable in any sense to try and “make do and mend”. We need a ground that is future-proof for the remainder of this century. Also essential new young fans and families etc.
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WOZOFGRIMSBY |
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What do you like about BP that could not be replicated at Freeman Street?
History. Nostalgia. Memories. Convenience (for some). Atmosphere (possibly).
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The Yard Dog |
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I doubt the club would get planning permission to increase the capacity of Blundell Park, as it is surrounded by houses with no parking provision.
What do you like about BP that could not be replicated at Freeman Street?
If we want to clever build a monarial from Grimsby train station to Cleethorpes train station, take the rail tracks up and all that wasteland could be used for parking, having a station opposite BP. Take it a bit further under the moanarial were the rail tracks were a build a road in from Riby Square into the wasteland (car park). The road on matches would one way upto kick-off and then reverse after the match, taking the load off Grimsby road. It could be part of the regeneration of the dock area linking up with BP via pathways.
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