English soccer club Plymouth Argyle has been given approval from local planers to begin a £50m (US$67m) renovation of its Home Park stadium and surrounding site.
The League One club’s plans will see a new Mayflower grandstand, which will increase total capacity from 16,388 to 20,000, as well as feature new facilities for players, offices for staff, and conference and banqueting facilities.
The surrounding site will also house a 120-bedroom hotel, 1,500-seat ice rink, 10-screen cinema, offices and restaurants, which is expected to offer 400 additional job opportunities to the local area.
Plymouth Argyle FC has been playing at Home Park since 1901 and has had three new stands built 10 years ago by contractor Barr. The plans for the fourth and final stand were produced four years ago by Kier, however the project only received the green light after Plymouth City Council agreed to grant planning consent at a meeting on December 14.
“It’s been a very long journey, and there have been ups and downs,” says Plymouth Argyle FC owner James Brent.
Speaking of the council’s consideration of the plans to include mixed-use spaces including food and drink units, offices, gymnasium and veterinary surgery, James Brent says, “The broad scheme remains the same in terms of what the ambition is, but we have made improvements. With these things, consultation and constructive feedback make it better in the end.”
December 20, 2017
