New stadium thread

[Reekie_Red]

Look at the highlighted areas below!

 

 

What about the large "nothing" land out the back of the South Stand? There's a massive area behind the South that is purely devoted to .... providing a path for the opposition fans to walk up.

 

As for developing new stands at the existing Pittodrie site, why not build OVER the roads? Golf Road has nothing but the Broadhill Bar opposite it. And the Main Stand has nothing but a carpark on the other side of the road. Building over the roads, thus forcing traffic to tunnel underneath the new stands, must surely be an option that can be explored.

[minijc]

It would cost more to revamp Pittodrie, the mainstand would need to be taken down completely as it is almost a death trap as it is.

[Reekie_Red]

It would cost more to revamp Pittodrie, the mainstand would need to be taken down completely as it is almost a death trap as it is.

 

It's not that I'm against moving. It's that I'm against moving to the middle of fuckin nowhere. THAT will be the death of us. Like has been mentioned previously, sticking the club in a field in the middle of nowhere will bid farewell to the "last minute" fans who just decide "ah fuckit, might as well go to the match the day". Surely to hell there's got to be decent priced land somewhere in the city that the club can grab that means we're still actually in Aberdeen!

 

Go for fuckin broke! Build a new stadium here ...

 

 

That'd be a great big fuckoff "WELCOME TO ABERDEEN" to anyone arriving in the city. All rail and bus travellers have easy access to the stadium. Quick hop off the St Claire for those Euro trips. I think I got a winner here!

[glasgow sheep]

It's not that I'm against moving. It's that I'm against moving to the middle of fuckin nowhere. THAT will be the death of us. Like has been mentioned previously, sticking the club in a field in the middle of nowhere will bid farewell to the "last minute" fans who just decide "ah fuckit, might as well go to the match the day". Surely to hell there's got to be decent priced land somewhere in the city that the club can grab that means we're still actually in Aberdeen!

 

Go for fuckin broke! Build a new stadium here ...

 

 

That'd be a great big fuckoff "WELCOME TO ABERDEEN" to anyone arriving in the city. All rail and bus travellers have easy access to the stadium. Quick hop off the St Claire for those Euro trips. I think I got a winner here!

 

http://www.donstalk.co.uk/messageboard/index.php/topic,9976.0.html

[Reekie_Red]

Ach, tear the fucker doon, I say! Too many shopping malls

[Ajja]

Yes, lets build a city centre stadium. There must be Dons fans on the Council or in big local businesses who will sell us some exorbitantly expensive land at a discounted rate to make it happen. Hell, if we can find a local construction firm who have the Dons best interests at heart then we might get it built for buttons. If I was an influential council planner or owned my own business or was a stadium construction specialist I'd do it for free because after all we are all Dons fans together. That alone trumps any sense of commercial sense or motivation to look out for your own interests. Nothing brings out the altruistic tendency like the scent of an opportunity to progress Aberdeen football club. Great stuff.

[Ptayles]

Build it on a boat and dock it across the road form union square.

 

 

Has anyone pointed out the top end of the links? Its just grass and nothing else and it must be of some use and cant cost too much to purchase

[Guest ally s]

 

As much as I dislike it I agree with Ajja's comments above.  The thought of having a stadium in/near the city centre is simply just romantic bollocks for a club like us.

 

Building it at Loirtson is a far more viable option for AFC. 

[Ptayles]

Yes, lets build a city centre stadium. There must be Dons fans on the Council or in big local businesses who will sell us some exorbitantly expensive land at a discounted rate to make it happen. Hell, if we can find a local construction firm who have the Dons best interests at heart then we might get it built for buttons. If I was an influential council planner or owned my own business or was a stadium construction specialist I'd do it for free because after all we are all Dons fans together. That alone trumps any sense of commercial sense or motivation to look out for your own interests. Nothing brings out the altruistic tendency like the scent of an opportunity to progress Aberdeen football club. Great stuff.

Its a fair idea...Then the construction company could get the likes of naming rights for the stadium and give the council some benefits

[tom_widdows]

Look at the highlighted areas below!

 

 

What about the large "nothing" land out the back of the South Stand? There's a massive area behind the South that is purely devoted to .... providing a path for the opposition fans to walk up.

 

As for developing new stands at the existing Pittodrie site, why not build OVER the roads? Golf Road has nothing but the Broadhill Bar opposite it. And the Main Stand has nothing but a carpark on the other side of the road. Building over the roads, thus forcing traffic to tunnel underneath the new stands, must surely be an option that can be explored.

 

Do you have any idea of the red tape that comes with messing with public roads?

 

The main stand - you suggest a concourse in the car park area.

1) instantly you have reduced the carparking available to the stadium. Where are these cars going to go. Where are the players and staff going to park?

2) concourse has to be traffice free so pittodrie street would have to be closed. This will impact businesses, local residents, Emergency access to the stadium not to mention what issues it could have on local traffic management, servicesm utilities etc. Id say the number of objections from domestic residents would be enough to slam that one into the ground.

 

The south stand - The large nothing at the back of the stadium?

You've just destroyed the stadiums largest car park and also an area the police use on occasions to ensure away fans are put onto their buses without having to leave the curtilage of the stadium.

'so mr Milne you propose to redevelop your stadium but want to lose all your carparking spaces? And the chief constable here seems to have an issue with security.

 

Golf Road

 

why are you highlighting golf road as a potential area to build on. This is the one part of the stadium that actually meets the criteria. Are you suggesting that the stadium be completely demolished and moved closer to the beach? Im actually concerned at your 'golf road has nothing but the broadhill bar opposite it' because that sounds like the sort of shit donald trump would pull.  You seem to have forgotten that golf road is an access route for the golf course, the driving range, the graveyard, houses, flats, etc . These people have claims to that road and fucking it up will be met with objections and expensive legal battles.

 

Please start thinking with your head and not your heart.

 

It cost Arsenal £80,000,000 to do stuff similar to what you are suggesting and that was before they even got to building the emirates. Last time I checked our budget was £50,000,000 for the whole package.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manc_don]

I was going to wait after work to reply to that, thanks for doing it for me Tom

 

I'm sure I also heard that the council wasn't willing to close the road off behind the Main stand? Or was that just hearsay?

[dave_min]

I was going to wait after work to reply to that, thanks for doing it for me Tom

 

I'm sure I also heard that the council wasn't willing to close the road off behind the Main stand? Or was that just hearsay?

 

 

I'd imagine.

 

The only thing that goes down that road on non-matchdays is tumbleweed.

[Reekie_Red]

The only thing that goes down that road on non-matchdays is tumbleweed.

 

and Hatters hoping to be the first person to post "I saw Kaka walking into Pittodrie the day".

 

Tom, I'm not suggesting we CLOSE Golf Road. As I said in my original post, why not explore the options of building stands over roads. There's plenty of stadiums around the world that step over roads, and cars simply pass under the stands. Clearly those lacking in a bit of imagination and heart on this forum have already bought into the idea of Loirston Loch Park. Tell me, how keen are you going to be to head out to Loirston Loch at 7pm on a late November evening for a match against St Mirren in the pissing, freezing cold rain?

 

I absolutely refuse to believe that there is no other option that means Aberdeen FC cannot remain in Aberdeen City. Moving outside Aberdeen City will be the death of this club.

 

On a side note, I see Milne has said in the AGM that he is still refusing to pour any of his own wealth into the playing squad. That's okay Stewart. But how about giving a lasting legacy to the club by building the new stadium. Take the money from the sale of Pittodrie if you like. But why not fund the new stadium. Shit, we'll even name it after you! What a legacy that would be!

[manc_don]

Whilst that may be so Reekie (club lacking imagination, because it probably does) I'd imagine, that building a bridge over the road would require extensive engineering work, and as a consequence, cost us a lot of money. As much as I'd like the club to stay within the city centre/limits, we just can't afford to do so. We don't have the fanbase or capital that would allow us to do so.

[tom_widdows]

and Hatters hoping to be the first person to post "I saw Kaka walking into Pittodrie the day".

 

Tom, I'm not suggesting we CLOSE Golf Road. As I said in my original post, why not explore the options of building stands over roads. There's plenty of stadiums around the world that step over roads, and cars simply pass under the stands. Clearly those lacking in a bit of imagination and heart on this forum have already bought into the idea of Loirston Loch Park. Tell me, how keen are you going to be to head out to Loirston Loch at 7pm on a late November evening for a match against St Mirren in the pissing, freezing cold rain?

 

I absolutely refuse to believe that there is no other option that means Aberdeen FC cannot remain in Aberdeen City. Moving outside Aberdeen City will be the death of this club.

 

On a side note, I see Milne has said in the AGM that he is still refusing to pour any of his own wealth into the playing squad. That's okay Stewart. But how about giving a lasting legacy to the club by building the new stadium. Take the money from the sale of Pittodrie if you like. But why not fund the new stadium. Shit, we'll even name it after you! What a legacy that would be!

 

Reekie, as my boss say ' you can do anything so long as you can afford to pay for it.' Stating that those who dont see your grand scheme of things are lacking imagination is showing a great lack of thought on your part. There are several members of this board, including myself who work in the construction trade and know all too well the perils of the planning process. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single british stadium which has a stand built over a road. The mighty manchester united have been in negotiations for years to reconstruct their main stand over a local railway line and have been turned down every time.

Spurs proposed extending one of their stands over paxton road and were told to get stuffed even though paxton road is not too disimilar to pittodrie street. They have now spent millions on masterplanning a brand new stadium/ hotel/ houing complex away from white hart lane which has only just been submitted for planning but already has english heritage up in arms.

Head over to Ireland and you will see that Landsdowne road has been rebuilt away from the railway line - the old stand was built over it.

 

I can only think of 1 football stadium which as a motorway running underneath it and that is athletico madrids and they had the advantage of 1) spanish planning and building regulations, 2) the motorway was being constructed at the same time as the stadium.

To answer your question about how keen i am to head out to loriston loch for 7pm in late november in the pissing freezing rain to see us play st mirren? I feel exactly the same as I would going to pittodrie.

I think pittodrie is a shithole. It has bad views, poor facilities, poor legroom in 3 of the 4 stands and should be ever get into the champions league we wont be able to play there. The only decent stand has had a section of its upper tier views damaged by lengthening the pitch.

I want to put this to you. None of us have seen detailed plans for the stadium. If it is to ever obtain planning permission they will have to masterplan the whole thing

- Transport links, road structures, car parking, environmental impacts. You are not allowed to go build a 20,000 seat stadium and not have infastructure available to cope with it.

 

Oh and as for mr milne. Please please  please will every single one of you get this into your heads. Milnes company is worth several hundred million (or at least it used to be). The man himself is not.

If he wants to fork out 50million of his companies cash on a new stadium he has to go through shareholders, the banks, and ill bet the inland revenue will want a word, not to mention the few hundred employees who were either let go or put on a 3 day week on half pay when the arse fell out of the construction industry.

His own personal fortune will probably cover the stadium costs but leave him completely broke and ill bet the family and friends will be 100% behind that venture

Its like hitting your head off a brick wall sometimes.

 

Change the record.

 

[glasgow sheep]

 

Reekie, as my boss say ' you can do anything so long as you can afford to pay for it.' Stating that those who dont see your grand scheme of things are lacking imagination is showing a great lack of thought on your part. There are several members of this board, including myself who work in the construction trade and know all too well the perils of the planning process. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single british stadium which has a stand built over a road. The mighty manchester united have been in negotiations for years to reconstruct their main stand over a local railway line and have been turned down every time.

Spurs proposed extending one of their stands over paxton road and were told to get stuffed even though paxton road is not too disimilar to pittodrie street. They have now spent millions on masterplanning a brand new stadium/ hotel/ houing complex away from white hart lane which has only just been submitted for planning but already has english heritage up in arms.

Head over to Ireland and you will see that Landsdowne road has been rebuilt away from the railway line - the old stand was built over it.

 

I can only think of 1 football stadium which as a motorway running underneath it and that is athletico madrids and they had the advantage of 1) spanish planning and building regulations, 2) the motorway was being constructed at the same time as the stadium.

To answer your question about how keen i am to head out to loriston loch for 7pm in late november in the pissing freezing rain to see us play st mirren? I feel exactly the same as I would going to pittodrie.

I think pittodrie is a shithole. It has bad views, poor facilities, poor legroom in 3 of the 4 stands and should be ever get into the champions league we wont be able to play there. The only decent stand has had a section of its upper tier views damaged by lengthening the pitch.

I want to put this to you. None of us have seen detailed plans for the stadium. If it is to ever obtain planning permission they will have to masterplan the whole thing

- Transport links, road structures, car parking, environmental impacts. You are not allowed to go build a 20,000 seat stadium and not have infastructure available to cope with it.

 

Oh and as for mr milne. Please please  please will every single one of you get this into your heads. Milnes company is worth several hundred million (or at least it used to be). The man himself is not.

If he wants to fork out 50million of his companies cash on a new stadium he has to go through shareholders, the banks, and ill bet the inland revenue will want a word, not to mention the few hundred employees who were either let go or put on a 3 day week on half pay when the arse fell out of the construction industry.

His own personal fortune will probably cover the stadium costs but leave him completely broke and ill bet the family and friends will be 100% behind that venture

Its like hitting your head off a brick wall sometimes.

 

Change the record.

So can we build over Pittodrie Street or not?

[tom_widdows]

Go make an appointment with Aberdeen city council and see what they say. I already know what their answer will be

[tom_widdows]

Id like to add nimbyism to you little list Jaeger.

 

in the rare occasions you get a supporting planner, a fantastic architect with a great multidisciplinary design team etc behind them the whole thing can always be scuppered by mr bloggs from down the road - which while frustrating is not a bad thing. Take that away and we are China.

Whilst not great design in any way take a look at the main stand at fir park - runs only 2/3 of the pitch because one local resident put up a fight.

Ill bet the aberdeen bypass never comes about because no one wants it through their aberdeenshire back yard (if at all)

 

Then of course come historic scotland, english heritage, RCAHMS, environmental groups, independant conservation groups, residents groups, rival developers or businesses stirring up the locals -old mr milne certainly benefited from that at kepplestone.

 

There are always going to be shite buildings but Ill lay good money that more than half of these are created for retail or to encourage industry - Aberdeen is a classic example with beach developments of the mid 90s and of course the latest addition down by the station. It is alleged that Aberdeen city council told the beach developers (Amadeus etc) to get stuffed, to which the response was 'ok we'll go build it in dundee then' - sudden U-Turn. Except of course for the new retail units -Big W, JJB gym etc which were refused by the council but approved on appeal by the scottish executive.

A football stadium doesnt encourage major retailers to come to the city or create jobs the way a shopping mall does so 'backhanders' are a bit more expensive

 

 

As for the  M8 through charing cross? that was built in 1969, a time where you could pretty much build what you liked - Historic scotland was only formally set up in the late 80s. I seriously doubt the M8 would have been built through charing cross or tradestone had someone with their influence been around.

[Reekie_Red]

A football stadium doesnt encourage major retailers to come to the city or create jobs the way a shopping mall does so 'backhanders' are a bit more expensive

 

No, but a decent sports facility brings with it international sporting competitions. The Aberdeen Sports Village complex has already been selected as a training venue for the 2012 Olympics, and it's only a training facility! Imagine what a city-based arena would do for Aberdeen and Scotland's chances of holding something like the UEFA Euro Championships, the Commonwealth Games, or even junior-grade football world cups!

 

Events like these bring tourists with them. Tourists spend more at restaurants, sight-seeing and domestic travel than any residents.

[maverick sheep]

No, but a decent sports facility brings with it international sporting competitions. The Aberdeen Sports Village complex has already been selected as a training venue for the 2012 Olympics, and it's only a training facility! Imagine what a city-based arena would do for Aberdeen and Scotland's chances of holding something like the UEFA Euro Championships, the Commonwealth Games, or even junior-grade football world cups!

 

Events like these bring tourists with them. Tourists spend more at restaurants, sight-seeing and domestic travel than any Aberdonian residents.

 

[dave_min]

No, but a decent sports facility brings with it international sporting competitions. The Aberdeen Sports Village complex has already been selected as a training venue for the 2012 Olympics, and it's only a training facility! Imagine what a city-based arena would do for Aberdeen and Scotland's chances of holding something like the UEFA Euro Championships, the Commonwealth Games, or even junior-grade football world cups!

 

Events like these bring tourists with them. Tourists spend more at restaurants, sight-seeing and domestic travel than any residents.

 

You are out your mind if you think there's any chance in hell of us hosting any of them.

[Ajja]

No, but a decent sports facility brings with it international sporting competitions. The Aberdeen Sports Village complex has already been selected as a training venue for the 2012 Olympics, and it's only a training facility! Imagine what a city-based arena would do for Aberdeen and Scotland's chances of holding something like the UEFA Euro Championships, the Commonwealth Games, or even junior-grade football world cups!

 

Events like these bring tourists with them. Tourists spend more at restaurants, sight-seeing and domestic travel than any residents.

 

I fail to see how an out of town facility would be considered a lesser option than a city centre one for attracting such major events. In many ways a facility that does not require visitors to navigate the inevitable city centre chaos would be significantly more desirable.

 

You are failing to comprehend that there is a population outside of the very centre of Aberdeen who would benefit from accessing a stadium outwith the city centre. With Aberdeen FC this population is not an insignificant one as a large amount of the home support is derived from central belt fans and Grampian based supporters. There is also an increasingly large percentage of fans who will travel by car to football and this might also suit their needs.

 

In actual fact, those of us who choose to travel by train to games and centre our day around pissing it up locally and crawling in to the ground at 2:58pm are increasingly in the minority. But hey, lets ignore all that and demand that the game stand still to service our needs.

[capitalsharpie]

You are out your mind if you think there's any chance in hell of us hosting any of them.

 

Why?  These tournaments are meant to be hosted fot the benefit of the ENTIRE host nation? But instead we have total centralisation over the olympics and the same seems to be happening to the Commonwelath games.  If we have to build a stadium that has to comply wirh so many rules and regs ie to play in the champions league, then why not go all out and make it the best we can?

 

God forbid we actually believe in ourselves and try to make a positive statement about Aberdeen City and Aberdeen football club.

[Kowalski]

 

Why?  These tournaments are meant to be hosted fot the benefit of the ENTIRE host nation? But instead we have total centralisation over the olympics and the same seems to be happening to the Commonwelath games.  If we have to build a stadium that has to comply wirh so many rules and regs ie to play in the champions league, then why not go all out and make it the best we can?

 

God forbid we actually believe in ourselves and try to make a positive statement about Aberdeen City and Aberdeen football club.

 

Spot on! 

If we ever got the European Fitba Championships, Aberdeen is bound to be involved.

[dave_min]

 

Why?  These tournaments are meant to be hosted fot the benefit of the ENTIRE host nation? But instead we have total centralisation over the olympics and the same seems to be happening to the Commonwelath games.  If we have to build a stadium that has to comply wirh so many rules and regs ie to play in the champions league, then why not go all out and make it the best we can?

 

God forbid we actually believe in ourselves and try to make a positive statement about Aberdeen City and Aberdeen football club.

 

Agreed, but the point I was making was that the chances of Aberdeen hosting the Commonwealth Games, or Scotland hosting the European Championships are absolute zero.