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St James' Park


Delima

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1 minute ago, Wandy said:

 

A crime. [emoji38]

 

It's a small and inconsequential building in a part of town that nobody visits. Even the guy who owns it is willing to see it go. Just knock the fucker down.

 

Honestly, the way some people talk about these buildings you'd think that that it was Grey Street that was under threat.

They replaced the Mayfair with the Gate. Progress. 

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2 minutes ago, ponsaelius said:

It doesn't matter what the owner says, you cannot demolish Grade I listed buildings. It's simply not going to happen.

 

St James' Terrace is Grade II.

 

 

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Fair, I hadn't watched the video. Even then you're extremely unlikely to ever be allowed to demolish a fully in tact Grade II listed building.

 

St James Terrace is the more immediate barrier just because of how close it is. I know for a fact the club have already suggested informally the option of moving it brick by brick. 

 

However I still think even with that obstacle moved you would be struggling to significantly expand the East Stand because of Leazes Terrace. Maybe a couple of thousand extra seats by going vertically. But to significantly increase the size of that stand you need a much bigger footprint.

 

 

Edited by ponsaelius

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14 minutes ago, ponsaelius said:

Fair, I hadn't watched the video admittedly.

 

St James Terrace is the more immediate barrier just because of how close it is. I know for a fact the club have already suggested informally the option of moving it brick by brick. 

 

However I still think even with that obstacle moved you would be struggling to significantly expand the East Stand because of Leazes Terrace. Maybe a couple of thousand extra seats by going vertically. But to significantly increase the size of that stand you need a much bigger footprint.

 

The report in The Times said that the club are looking to extend capacity to 62k. People have taken this to mean building a new East Stand which achieves this capacity on its own, but I think the club are including the Gallowgate expansion in this too. There's no way that the East Stand land area will allow a stand which provides around a 200% increase in it's own capacity. 

 

I'm sure the authorities would allow St James Terrace to be sacrificed and the East Stand footprint to move closer to Leazes Terrace if the light issue can be resolved.

 

The real problem for me is that 62k simply isnt enough seats, and at that point the club truly will be locked in at that site.

 

 

Edited by Wandy

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35 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

A crime. [emoji38]

 

It's a small and inconsequential building in a part of town that nobody visits. Even the guy who owns it is willing to see it go. Just knock the fucker down.

 

Honestly, the way some people talk about these buildings you'd think that that it was Grey Street that was under threat.

He is willing to let it go for money. He is probably already counting the cash.  He couldn't care less about expanding the stadium.  They are Grade 2 listed buildings for a reason.

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36 minutes ago, RS said:

They replaced the Mayfair with the Gate. Progress. 

Is it? Gate is pretty soulless. The Mayfair was an 'awesome' venue - I know which I would prefer. 

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15 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

The report in The Times said thar the club are looking to extend capacity to 62k. People have taken this to mean building a new East Stand which achieves this capacity on its own, but I think the club are including the Gallowgate expansion in this too. There's no way that the East Stand land area will allow a stand which provides around a 200% increase in capacity. 

 

I'm sure the authorities would allow St James Terrace to be sacrificed and the East Stand footprint to move closer to Leazes Terrace if the light issue can be resolved.

 

The real problem for me is that 62k simply isnt enough seats, and at that point the club truly will be locked in at that site.

 

St James Terrace is a 

nice enough building but I would agree it is of significantly less heritage value than Leazes Terrace - which as a set piece is one of the finest and heftiest examples of Georgian residential architecture (although technically Victorian by date) in the country. 

 

I don't know about complete demolition but I think part relocation/repurposing/redeveloping of SJT into a new East Stand may be a goer. But you're definitely only ever going to get an extra couple of thousand seats. The real capacity increase comes from doing the Gallowgate extension.

 

I don't know about 62,000 being too little. I think between 60-65 is about right. Again I'm in the minority but I think long term when we're playing 50+ games a season, ticket prices have gone up and the current buzz has become normality there will be an equilibrium point for demand. And you don't want to keep expanding to get more tourists in at the expense of sacrificing atmosphere.

 

 

Edited by ponsaelius

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I don't think it is total capacity which is gonna drive stadium revenue moving forwards.  It is probably how many of those swanky tickets that come with a buffet and padded seat which is gonna matter.

 

So probably looking at new stands which include space for such facilities.  Then we start selling those ticks for a billion a pop to wealthy lads from the middle east.

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24 minutes ago, duo said:

Is it? Gate is pretty soulless. The Mayfair was an 'awesome' venue - I know which I would prefer. 

I was being facetious.  Why someone would choose a stand over a beautiful piece of period architecture is beyond me. 
 

id assume they will build a new stand with more seats within the existing stand’s footprint 

 

 

Edited by RS

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1 minute ago, David Edgar said:

I don't think it is total capacity which is gonna drive stadium revenue moving forwards.  It is probably how many of those swanky tickets that come with a buffet and padded seat which is gonna matter.

 

So probably looking at new stands which include space for such facilities.  Then we start selling those ticks for a billion a pop to wealthy lads from the middle east.

This is a good point, I took my boy on a stadium tour and they said that boxes at SJP go for around £80k a season, whereas at the Emirates they go for a million per season.

 

Im sure big businesses would line up to purchase one for a season for a million as part of building a relationship with PIF, as well as wealthy people from the Middle East even if it is for show.

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I would be against moving from St James, even just to Leazes Park.  Every club from the mackems to Arsenal to West Ham lost an element of the soul of the club moving to a new location - however lovely the new stadium could be.

 

The only option for me is expansion which I think the club has in mind too.  Maybe 62k is too small but I’m not sure there will be consistent demand for 70k plus tickets - if and when this honeymoon period is over.  Particularly when the ineveitable price increases happen and they stop selling family enclosure kids season tickets for less than £100 per season.

 

I think the not selling new season tickets is a strategy while they wait for all the long term deals to expire and lots of kids in the family enclosure to age out of being allowed there.  They can then look at further corporate areas, reducing the family enclosure, more safe standing without pissing off loads of season ticket holders who get frustrated at being moved around. 

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I'm actually not opposed in theory to Castle Leazes/Leazes Park build. If done well it could be the best outcome for the setting of the listed buildings while also expanding the park into the city centre and making it a real amenity feature of the city as well as a usable thoroughfare on matchdays.

 

I just think modern new build stadiums are shit. If you let any of the current mainstream stadium architects get a hold of it it will be a giant spaceship/bowl with no character. Every new stadium and redevelopment at the moment has exactly the same fundament design with variations to the exoskeletal facade. 

 

A football stadium, especially in England, should have four clearly recognisable stands from inside and out. I have no idea why this stopped being the case but it did, sometime after around 2006. 

 

Just don't understand why anybody would want a copy of the Spurs stadium or any of the rubbish from the Qatar World Cup. 

 

 

Edited by ponsaelius

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The Spurs stadium is lush, but I get what you mean with the exterior. However for it’s location, it works.

That exterior wouldn’t really work at Leazers Park, but something like the Lucas Oil Field exterior would.

Everything else done at Spurs’ new stadium works well.

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