davie nine":1er03ly2 said:
demportdave":1er03ly2 said:
Bermudian Green":1er03ly2 said:
demportdave":1er03ly2 said:
Michael Dunford told me last Thursday night that adding the missing section to the Grandstand would have cost between Ā£500-600 thousand.
How many seats would this have been for?
If you also include the seats that will still not be able to be used because of the restricted view, despite over Ā£6M being spent to upgrade the Grandstand, I would estimate it would provide at least 500 more seats, maybe a bit more, which would take the capacity up to about 19000. I cannot see a scenario where we will ever need any more than that which is why I firmly believe Phase 2 will never happen, but thatās just my view.
Around 19000 would be sufficient even in the unlikely situation of Argyle becoming a top Championship club competing for promotion to the Premiership. We would only need Phase 2 - and perhaps the mythical mezzanine level around the horseshoe to take the capacity up to around 27000 - if we were to reach the Premiership. That will never happen but we could be a mid-table Championship club.
As a pragmatist, I can accept that Phase 2 and the mezzanine level will never happen because the reality is that itās never going to be required, which is why I was so keen to at least see the Grandstand finally completed after all this time. I would have been content with that.
The Club would never admit that Phase 2 isnāt ever going to happen. They will continue the charade that it is an unspecified long-term aim and many well-meaning but naive fans will continue to believe that it is going to be built.
Iām not quite sure I accept the figures from Michael Dunford, but even if the stand could not be completed with the seating, it would have been cheaper to at least complete the roof over this area now.
Hi, demportdave. Welcome back. I am intrigued that, until late November, you had not posted on Pasoti for about 20 months. I missed you as I enjoyed our occasional debates.
It just seems strange that, over the period that the Grandstand has been in itās planning and development stages you have not commented but now you seem to be criticising the fact that the corners are not being filled in. This particular issue was ādone to deathā during the planning stage when explanations were made about the reasons why this was not included in the first phase and that there was no timescale for phase 2.
Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and this is a good place to voice it but, as you now seem so concerned, it is surprising that you have just raised this at this time.
If your absence has been due to illness, I apologise.
Thanks for the welcome back, I know that is a genuine sentiment but I will disappear back into the ether once again after this posting.
My views on the redevelopment are irrelevant and inconsequential. I appreciate that I am very much in the minority on this particular matter as most Argyle fans are not even aware that we have a lop-sided, incomplete Grandstand.
Unfortunately, like 1 or 2 others you have not actually read my postings on this matter and have just assumed I was complaining about the corners being left; Iām not. At no time have I expressed disappointment with the corners not being filled in, in fact I have stated that I believe it will never happen because we will never actually need the extra seats.
My disappointment is that despite spending over Ā£6M, the Grandstand will still not be complete 66 years after it was started. I would have liked to have seen it finished, as planned back in 1952, extended by about another 20 yards or so above the open steps at the Barn Park End so that we had a stand which extended the full length of the pitch.
The fact that we will have a 66-year old stand which will still not be completed (and probably never will be) despite a Ā£6M+ re-vamp is a bit of a metaphor for Argyle.
If I really wanted to be critical, I would say that we have missed a great opportunity to prepare for the return of standing which is certainly going to come back sooner rather than later. I doubt there is any area better suited than the former Mayflower Terrace to accommodate Safe Standing and Rail Seats.
Unfortunately, when standing does come back there will be nowhere in the ground to accommodate it, apart maybe from the 2 unfinished corners?