Villa Park Redevelopment

[ChicagoLion]

I just don't see how Villa Live would have taken off because of the location.  Outside of match days it would really struggle and on match days, really you're just talking about an hour or so before and after kick off.  I don't think it's the sort of place that would be attractive to local residents.  What the stumps conversion does is allow us to test the concept without spending the huge sums the new building would have cost.

It adds an extra venue to the Holte Suite (which is always full before a game anyway) and is a lot more visible.  I imagine a lot of non Holte End fans wouldn't even realise it existed.

Yeah, this is pretty much where I sit with the whole thing.  Could see a redeveloped Stumps as being potentially quite a useful event space really.  If the club's commercial bread & butter is conferences & exhibitions - which a few people have mentioned - then really you want to create more space for that sort of thing, rather than a Villa Live type building which is going to aim at a completely different type of event.  This Villa Whorehouse seems to be just that.

We should all get to score and a bit of an upgrade to a pre match pie and a pint.
Should be quicker to get served as well.

[London Villan]

Not a surprise with size and scale of it. It affects a third of the Trinity too, and has all the new dressing rooms and now restaurant block too, so it's a massive job.

[jon collett]

Is the real reason that we are no longer building the stand behind the North Stand which would have required demolishing Stumps?

It now appears the Stand will be built in its actual position but will take two seasons.

[Ads]

Given there's 7 months preparatory work, it would suggest the build is a tad more complex that realised? Stumps is miles away from the new stand, so wouldn't be that.

Looks like a Sports Bar will go in the space where the current Trinity fan zone/park is.

[jon collett]

They were going to build it on wheels and roll it in place like a motorway bridge. Presumably that would have required a huge amount of space? I just wonder of that's the main change.

[dave.woodhall]

Does that mean it's now going to be a horseshoe design with a standalone Holte?

[LeeB]

Does that mean it's now going to be a horseshoe design with a standalone Holte?

I don't think that would be the worse thing in the world to maximise space but retain some identity

[pauliewalnuts]

Does that mean it's now going to be a horseshoe design with a standalone Holte?

No, the plans submitted earlier this year involved the lower Trinity merging into the lower tier of the new stand, so there will be access between the two. I think that's what he's referring to.

[chrisw1]

Does that mean it's now going to be a horseshoe design with a standalone Holte?

I don't think they've changed that part of the design have they?  It was always going to connect at the lower tier level.

[paul_e]

Personally I like the idea of a horseshoe/filled corners for the lower tier and then stands above for the upper tiers.

[Drummond]

Utilising the current building rather than constructing something new is fine as long as it works. I'm not sure why people want to demolish it and put something shiny and new up if there's no need. Plenty of spaces are reimagjned sympathetically and effectively.

Having watched construction of some new buildings next to our office, the complexity of utilities is huge. If we want the best, then it takes time and money.

Ultimately what we want is the best stadium we can get, and I'm all for staying where we are. It'll be painful with a reduced capacity but the benefit in the longer term will be worth it, won't it?

[Villan82]

It is a real pity they have ruled out allowing fans occupy seats in phases of the rebuild. I remember the Holte Lower and new Trinity housing fans while work continued on completing the upper tiers. Is this a regulation thing that has changed since we last had construction at the stadium?

[kippaxvilla2]

I am being fairly thick and probably lazy.  Do I understand this correctly?  Instead of building on the existing North Stand they are going to demolish it and because of infrastructure preparations it is now going to take two years instead of one to build and that there will be a greatly reduced capacity in the meantime?  in addition will the new stand bolt onto the DE and Trinity Stands?  And the capacity is still going to be 60,000 and Villa Live - outside of the matchday events etc has been binned?

[pauliewalnuts]

I am being fairly thick and probably lazy.  Do I understand this correctly?  Instead of building on the existing North Stand they are going to demolish it and because of infrastructure preparations it is now going to take two years instead of one to build and that there will be a greatly reduced capacity in the meantime?  in addition will the new stand bolt onto the DE and Trinity Stands?  And the capacity is still going to be 60,000 and Villa Live - outside of the matchday events etc has been binned?

It will bolt on to the lower trinity so there is access between the two. Nothing about the DE (prob because that's living on borrowed time).

The North Stand was always going to be demolished, there was never any question of that. The article refers to Liverpool doing what a few clubs have done and building their new stand 'behind' the existing one, and demolishing the existing one further along the build.

Infrastructure work was always going to take a while, that's not anything new. It's not necessarily been extended to a two year build, it might always have been that, but this is the first time they've really spoken about the build timeframe.

The capacity will be just over 50k, and the plans are still there to move to 60k further along the line, but that is obviously going to involve rebuilding the DE.

Also, yes, two years of reduced capacity. I expect we'll get PL dispensation to reduce the number of away seats given because of this, so wouldn't be surprised to see the upper or lower current away sections being allocated to our fans for two years.

[London Villan]

Liverpool are also using the existing seats of the lower tier and the first few rows of the upper teir in the new Anfield Road stand. Because of the size and design of the new North Stand that can't be done wat Villa Park.