Villa Park Redevelopment

[VILLA MOLE]

I've never been convinced, we struggled to sell tickets for that bike thing last week because we are not a City Centre/decent location for public transport. The Holte Suite does OK for corporate events and exhibitions but beyond that I can't see it myself. As I said earlier, concentrate on the ground and have temporary hospitality outside for games and extend it for concerts and other events.

With regards facilities for the Witton Lane .  I wonder if we could close the street  off and had food and drink on the road say 1 pm until 5 .  It would alleviate some of the pressure in the Stand 

[The Edge]

I think it has decent potential for being a live gig venue for "smaller" artists/productions, a bit like the AV Leisure Centre was, back in the day.

I agree. There's huge appetite for live music and the transport would not be an issue for a venue of that size. Witton and Aston stations would be ideal. It's not just live music either. There's boxing events and conferences and many other events which are currently held at The Holte Suite which doesn't have to generate revenue to survive as it's part of the main structure of the ground.

[pauliewalnuts]

You can't just build Villa Live on that location and then decide you're going to use it for live music - that requires licensing, and to be honest, I reckon the council would be of the opinion the local residents get enough disturbance from the ground as it is.

It'd then - if it was going to be any good - have to be designed and built to hold music events, ie some sort of accoustic measures.

It's much more complex than just booking a few bands up.

[Percy McCarthy]

I think it has decent potential for being a live gig venue for "smaller" artists/productions, a bit like the AV Leisure Centre was, back in the day.

I agree. There's huge appetite for live music and the transport would not be an issue for a venue of that size. Witton and Aston stations would be ideal. It's not just live music either. There's boxing events and conferences and many other events which are currently held at The Holte Suite which doesn't have to generate revenue to survive as it's part of the main structure of the ground.

I don’t see the point of building a new venue with the aim of taking away the events at the Holte Suite. I was invited to the boxing there once, not really my thing but the missus and I quite enjoyed it and the venue was perfectly adequate.

[Villan82]

I always had concerns Villa Live could be a bit of a push for the area. The new stand is the most important aspect so not too bothered about the other aspects.

[pauliewalnuts]

I've never been convinced, we struggled to sell tickets for that bike thing last week because we are not a City Centre/decent location for public transport. The Holte Suite does OK for corporate events and exhibitions but beyond that I can't see it myself. As I said earlier, concentrate on the ground and have temporary hospitality outside for games and extend it for concerts and other events.

With regards facilities for the Witton Lane .  I wonder if we could close the street  off and had food and drink on the road say 1 pm until 5 .  It would alleviate some of the pressure in the Stand 

We should expand what we currently do with street food outlets at the back of the North Stand, work with Digbeth Dining Club to get them there more often.

You'd get much better food and service from those guys than you will internal food outlets staffed by minimum wage day-workers who have no idea what they're doing.

If we could get them to remain after the match, and encouraged people to stay to eat and drink, that would also contribute to ameliorating the problem with the post match transport.

[john e]

MK Dons stadium has a building attached to it called the Marshall centre named after the Amp manufacturer
it’s being used for professional Darts and Snooker televised matches and other event type stuff

I don’t know why I’m telling you this actually and probably has got nothing to do with anything apart from it’s near me so I know a bit about it and I just wanted to feel useful to the debate

[LeeB]

Meanwhile a 23,500 venue is just being built next to the etihad. I find it quite depressing all this. It's like Deadly is in charge of it.

Is that so they can look like they've got a full house midweek?

[LeeB]

You can't just build Villa Live on that location and then decide you're going to use it for live music - that requires licensing, and to be honest, I reckon the council would be of the opinion the local residents get enough disturbance from the ground as it is.

It'd then - if it was going to be any good - have to be designed and built to hold music events, ie some sort of accoustic measures.

It's much more complex than just booking a few bands up.

Yeah, you might get Bobbie Gillespie moving in nearby then moaning, the ******

[Des Little]

I've never been convinced, we struggled to sell tickets for that bike thing last week because we are not a City Centre/decent location for public transport. The Holte Suite does OK for corporate events and exhibitions but beyond that I can't see it myself. As I said earlier, concentrate on the ground and have temporary hospitality outside for games and extend it for concerts and other events.

With regards facilities for the Witton Lane .  I wonder if we could close the street  off and had food and drink on the road say 1 pm until 5 .  It would alleviate some of the pressure in the Stand 

We should expand what we currently do with street food outlets at the back of the North Stand, work with Digbeth Dining Club to get them there more often.

You'd get much better food and service from those guys than you will internal food outlets staffed by minimum wage day-workers who have no idea what they're doing.

If we could get them to remain after the match, and encouraged people to stay to eat and drink, that would also contribute to ameliorating the problem with the post match transport.

I agree. Taking the Villa Village building down will create even more space for independent food outlets and bars. We’ll definitely see how much appetite there is for such a venue then, if you pardon the shit pun.

[astonvilla82]

I've never been convinced, we struggled to sell tickets for that bike thing last week because we are not a City Centre/decent location for public transport. The Holte Suite does OK for corporate events and exhibitions but beyond that I can't see it myself. As I said earlier, concentrate on the ground and have temporary hospitality outside for games and extend it for concerts and other events.

With regards facilities for the Witton Lane .  I wonder if we could close the street  off and had food and drink on the road say 1 pm until 5 .  It would alleviate some of the pressure in the Stand 

We should expand what we currently do with street food outlets at the back of the North Stand, work with Digbeth Dining Club to get them there more often.

You'd get much better food and service from those guys than you will internal food outlets staffed by minimum wage day-workers who have no idea what they're doing.

If we could get them to remain after the match, and encouraged people to stay to eat and drink, that would also contribute to ameliorating the problem with the post match transport.

I agree. Taking the Villa Village building down will create even more space for independent food outlets and bars. We’ll definitely see how much appetite there is for such a venue then, if you pardon the shit pun.

With less pubs in the area and being on the door step on match days it might be well attended especially if the service is up to scratch

[pauliewalnuts]

I've never been convinced, we struggled to sell tickets for that bike thing last week because we are not a City Centre/decent location for public transport. The Holte Suite does OK for corporate events and exhibitions but beyond that I can't see it myself. As I said earlier, concentrate on the ground and have temporary hospitality outside for games and extend it for concerts and other events.

With regards facilities for the Witton Lane .  I wonder if we could close the street  off and had food and drink on the road say 1 pm until 5 .  It would alleviate some of the pressure in the Stand 

We should expand what we currently do with street food outlets at the back of the North Stand, work with Digbeth Dining Club to get them there more often.

You'd get much better food and service from those guys than you will internal food outlets staffed by minimum wage day-workers who have no idea what they're doing.

If we could get them to remain after the match, and encouraged people to stay to eat and drink, that would also contribute to ameliorating the problem with the post match transport.

I agree. Taking the Villa Village building down will create even more space for independent food outlets and bars. We’ll definitely see how much appetite there is for such a venue then, if you pardon the shit pun.

With less pubs in the area and being on the door step on match days it might be well attended especially if the service is up to scratch

Also, with the Digbeth Dining Club / whichever street food outlets on site, those guys work entirely on the basis of doing a day in one place, a day in another and so on - that suits a venue that only gets used 20 odd times a year.

They're more set up for it, the product is better and it's way more interesting than some giant catering conglomerate with their day labourers serving up slop, slowly.

[dave.woodhall]

Is that Digbeth Dining Club/street food stuff particularly popular round the ground? I know there are always queued but is that because of the limited timescale or is it genuinely worth their while?

[AV82EC]

Is that Digbeth Dining Club/street food stuff particularly popular round the ground? I know there are always queued but is that because of the limited timescale or is it genuinely worth their while?

The fact they come back week after week and the prices they charge I’d suggest it’s well worth their while.

I’ll mention this for the umpteenth time again as we’re going round this topic, the fan zone area outside the Trinity would be much better located on the Holte Car Park. Yes some drivers would be inconvenienced and have to be relocated but the revenue/atmos/vibe having it there would be fantastic. Me and a mate have been talking about this for about 10 years and we don’t seem any closer.

[Dogtanian]

I think it has decent potential for being a live gig venue for "smaller" artists/productions, a bit like the AV Leisure Centre was, back in the day.

I agree. There's huge appetite for live music and the transport would not be an issue for a venue of that size. Witton and Aston stations would be ideal. It's not just live music either. There's boxing events and conferences and many other events which are currently held at The Holte Suite which doesn't have to generate revenue to survive as it's part of the main structure of the ground.

Didn’t there used to be basketball at Aston Villa Leisure Centre too?