New ground or refurbishment?

[darra]

 

build upwards.....

If the ground would let them. No expert but when we built our extension we did it in two phases because we couldn't afford to do it in one go. The foundations had the be dug double depth to allow for the second story to be built. Otherwise we'd have had to dig down or summat to improve the existing ones when we built the second storey.

 

Edited April 16, 2017 by darra

[S36 OWL]

Refurbishment of Hillsbro for me. 

 

the old lady needs freshening up ,but she is our home. 

[Inspector Lestrade]

 

Where would you move it to? Would probably involve the purchase of land and buildings and take years to happen if ever

 

Underpass, do I have to think of everything?  What possibly could go wrong?

[Inspector Lestrade]

Anyone got an idea how much Hillsborough would be worth to a developer? 

[WadsleyOwl]

 

My heart says refurb my head says we will have to move.

 

Can't see why they can't reroute Penistone Road so we can have more space behind the Kop and more room generally.

 

Realistically we shall have to move away from our present location.

 

Interesting times, the die-hard traditionalists are going to go ballistic, still crying over the shirts.

You'd be surprised how big the site is, the Kop and the Leppings need to be totally rebuilt from scratch.

 

I've always been for a new ground but finding suitable sites when you look at google maps is very difficult unless it's in the east end which I wouldn't be in favour of unless it was really close to town. Everywhere else has a bloody river flowing through it. I've said for years the ideal location would be Owlerton Stadium but would uncle Dave cash in. 

[Blatter]

Have to reluctantly conclude that a new stadium is the only realistic solution.

 

I have loved Hillsborough since my first visit in 1958 but have witnessed its many faults.

 

I saw the North Stand being built and that is the only part that was done properly by completely demolishing the old structure.(my dad reckoned part of the old stand it replaced was brought from Olive Grove)

The Kop still has the original earth bank as it's foundation

The South Stand lower tier is the original 1920''s structure with narrow concourse and access.

The West Stand foundation is the old Leppings Lane standing terrace complete with sloping tunnel and no segregated access to upper and lower tiers.

To make matters worse Hillsborough is bordered by houses to the North, a major road to the East, the River Don to the South and is situated in a mainly residential area with limited parking for those travelling from out of Sheffield.

 

Add to that little lot the history of a disaster scaring the authorities of any further incident, and there is little hope of a sensible refurb without further official interference.

 

Sadly a new stadium semi to be the best solution, would be built in far less time than refurbishing what we have and would not result in lost revenue by closing off large parts of the ground. By the way, it does not have to be a bowl.. just get the design right 

[parkfieldowl14]

Sadly,It has to be New Ground for me or otherwise the longer we stay at S6 without any major Renovation to it is going to make us look like a club that is still stuck in the past.

[darra]

Bluesteel

Sheffield Wednesday Board Member

 

Sheffield Wednesday Fan

10,442

30,298 posts

 

 

So we can't upgrade for less than £70M because that's what a decent stadium will cost with the infrastructure...unless of course you were aiming for a subuteo stadium like Donny or Rotherham...reyt    

 

I haven't done a costs analysis like you clearly have by citing Donny 

 

But I do work in development and generally speaking it is a lot more cost effective to build from scratch than it is to completely overhaul an outdated structure. Not just in terms of the cost but what you get for your investment long term as you would still be restricted to the original footprint which minimises the space you have to work with for generating revenue and would need to pay to undo old work and pretty much do the work you would be doing anyway on a new build. Potentially lose bits in the process that you didn't want to lose but have to in order to make it work. 

 

You also have the benefit of an old site to sell or develop at the end of it.

 

Its not the way everyone would like to do things but they end up doing so because of cost

Edited Thursday at 20:29 by Bluesteel

 

 

This bloke seems to know his stuff and has given the best argument so far as to why we shouldn't refurb

Edited April 16, 2017 by darra

[S36 OWL]

 

Anyone got an idea how much Hillsborough would be worth to a developer? 

 

I think it would depend on what the planning committee would approve for development. 

[Inspector Lestrade]

 

 

I think it would depend on what the planning committee would approve for development. 

 

 

Housing

[WadsleyOwl]

 

 

I think it would depend on what the planning committee would approve for development. 

 

I would imagine you could get quite a few riverside apartments and town houses, and no doubt a memorial garden on there. 

[ANDY]

 

 

Housing

 

 

SAG would still insist on netted off areas

 

 

[Inspector Lestrade]

 

 

 

SAG would still insist on netted off areas

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm not thinking it through

 

Soz

[S36 OWL]

Housing would be favourite id imagine. The only other uses i could see would be a retail park of some description. 

[S36 OWL]

 

 

 

SAG would still insist on netted off areas

 

 

 

And segregation between each house. 

[theowlsman]

New stadium.

 

Competing for top class players in the Premiership, means we need to maximise our revenues, which can only be done from a new, state-of-the-art, stadium. 

 

No brainer.

[Utah Owl]

 

Not heard that. Cant see us paying nearly 7 times market value though

The market value has nothing to do with it. It's what it could be worth to Wednesday over a period of time. In any event, there may be a deal to be done in there somewhere.

 

If it could be acquired, then it may be possible to erect a multi-story car-park there with leisure facilities (restaurants, cinema, pub etc) and a connecting walkway/concourse to a new Kop end and the North stand to enable people to access the ground far more safely. In addition with the right leisure facilities and access/egress ramps to the car park people could come and go more slowly easing the traffic problems on match days.

 

The more I think about it the more I believe that that piece of land (or something very similar (a slice of land from Hillsborough Park by the South Stand Bridge?) is probably key to our ability to make Hillsborough viable in the modern commercial climate.

 

Sad truth is we probably need a mixture of more land for parking and leisure facilities to  encourage people to drift away gradually after matches, together with better transport links. To be honest I can't see that happening on the current site but I absolutely hate the thought of moving elsewhere to the very core of my being.

[asteener1867]

 

If the ground would let them. No expert but when we built our extension we did it in two phases because we couldn't afford to do it in one go. The foundations had the be dug double depth to allow for the second story to be built. Otherwise we'd have had to dig down or summat to improve the existing ones when we built the second storey.

 

Err..build downwards.................

[Blueblood]

Right ok so from what I gather the OP can be explained by the fact there was talk of the National Athletics stadium being built in Sheffield and both Wednesday and united were approached about sharing the stadium. Wednesday flatly refused and dem blades turned it down a month later. 

For me personally I'd much rather see Hillsborough redeveloped rather than us move. I want to keep the 4 separate stand but enclose the corners somehow to stop the elements blowing straight in to the stadium. I also thing it would help keep the atmosphere from drifting straight out of the corners of the stadium 

[WadsleyOwl]

It's a 10 acre site, any builders developers on here know how many units you could build on that.

Edited April 16, 2017 by WadsleyOwl