That Old Chestnut - Do We Move Or Do We Stay

[Kmcalpin]

That old question has resurfaced again following an update at the AGM. In some ways nothing has changed but in other ways it has. The Club Directors had commissioned a report addressing the dilemma as to whether we upgrade Fir Park or whether we move. A Iengthy tome has now landed on their desks and rightly they will take time to digest it. Its interesting now though that a completley new regime is taking a another, fresh look at the issue. I suppose one catalyst is the state of the POD. Anyone sitting in there yesterday will share my concerns. Whatever the directors decide, doing nothing isn't an option. Other parts of the ground also require attention especially the East Stand. However, that can't be redeveloped whilst the school is still there and I doubt if that will close anytime soon. Demolishing and rebuilding the POD will be costly and complicated and disruptive, especially as we don't own the houses at the south western corner. The new regime is maximising the use of every available pocket of land that it can i.e. Mrs Baillies and now the corner between the East and Cooper Stands. But thats a sticking plaster exercise, albeit a creative one. 

Like Spiderpig, I favour moving to a new stadium. That of course, comes with its own problems namely cost.  Whilst the club is now in an extremely healthy position with the prospect of more substantial transfer income to come it certainly won't stretch to constructing a new stadium; nothing like it. If we ever do move in my lifetime, It'll be hard leaving my second home of decades behind but I think that time has come. New generations of Well fans want and deserve modern, good facilities not memories. 

It'll be interesting to learn what the Directors make of the report. Watch this space.         

[weeyin]

i agree about deserving modern, good facilities, but I don't see much of that on offer at the other newer stadiums.

And that is going to be the challenge unless some serious money is available.

[joewarkfanclub]

I think the problem with moving to a new stadium is the lack of joined up thinking when it comes to national or local government and the political will for urban regeneration.

Without this becoming a political post (its hard to avoid) its been more than 30 years now since they shut The Craig and we are nowhere near to realising any re-generation of the site.

The fault of that lies at the feet of governments of all persuasions both at Westmister, Holyrood and locally.

My preference would absolutely be a new purpose built stadium at Ravenscraig.

But we would need buy in from government and local councils to ensure that planning allowed for railway lines, roads, bus links, retail and leisure infrastructure that could support the project as part of the bigger venture of re-generating a community long left behind.

In the absence of such co-operation, the club is left to try and generate the revenue required to build something fit for purpose, whilst allowing us to remain competitive on the pitch.

Thats a big ask.

Looking forward to seeing what the feasability studies say, but my feeling is that the path of least resistance will be to demolish and rebuild the POD.

The other 3 stands can be maintained in the short to medium term and a new POD would allow us to generate further revenue and bring down some of our costs.

Not gonna be an easy fix, but a league win and Champions League money might help!

😉😉😉

[dennyc]

If the best option is to re-locate then lots of avenues need to be approached before that final decision can be made. Can a supposedly cash short Local Authority assist in any way? Community Club etc etc with initiatives already in place that improve the lives of locals and lessen the burden on the LA. You would hope the LA would therefore try to find some ways to assist us. Providing the land itself as a start and then ensuring the new ground is reachable by local transport. Could MFC provide modern facilities within the ground to support the LA in their own local initiatives?

How about Government ....Scottish and UK....Development Grants? I don't know if Lanarkshire was included in the UK Government's allocation of millions to assist deprived areas. Lottery funding perhaps? A major Company securing naming rights and providing up front funding? There must also be other areas way beyond my understanding. Perhaps the Feasibility Study will have addressed what is available beyond MFC?

Clearly none of the above, if available, would cover the full cost. But they might just reduce the Club's commitment to a level that is bearable.

My own view is that we should have moved years ago when the Economic climate was much better and LA's were in a far better situation. I still think re-locating is the best solution as we must have already spent millions just keeping Fir Park within safety requirements. Hopefully our now forward thinking Board can come up with a proposal acceptable to all of us.

 

 

[texanwellfan]

At Austin FC opening game this afternoon. Their 25000 capacity stadium built in 2021 cost $260 million and was privately funded. 

[Inthebasement]

I very rarely post but have posted on this a few times in the distant past. I love Fir Park dearly and believe we must preserve our history and stay / redevelop if at all possible. If we leave Fir Park we will lose something we will never get back. Realistically, we would not get anything special or architecturally interesting, it would be Almondvale with different colours and a bigger away end. That is the economics.

I don't know the ins and outs of course, but surely rebuilding the POD from scratch would provide a platform to modernise the stadium / facilities while addressing the worst of the problems, and though expensive would be a more manageable project than a complete move to RC?

[FirParkCornerExile]

A new roof on the East Stand and rebuild of the Main Stain should be within financial limitations of the club.

Last I read somewhere upgrading the Main Stand would be circa £2million a complete rebuild £5 million. Ayr Utd built a new stand with excellent corporate suites / Function Suite for £3 Million. However only 800 seats.  Unless substantial outside investment is available a new ground would be very difficult to realise.