Stadium Planning

[magickingdom]

i see clones is in line for a 30m upgrade following hot on the heels of westmeath and kildares stadium plans. surely its time for some sort of central stadium planning body in the gaa. what this country needs is one centrally located stadium with a roof that can seat 25,000 and finally weather proof our games. how about the athlone arena, a central enough location where every sunday a double header top league games can be played. giving up all these town center locations for stadiums that will be empty for 99% of the time may be a bad idea in the longterm... what do others think?

[el_cuervo_fc]

There's another thread on this

[magickingdom]

where?

[dubnut]

The other thread specifically refers to Clones.
This is regarding stadium planning nationwide.
Valid to have a seperate thread imo.

[tayto]

i see clones is in line for a 30m upgrade following hot on the heels of westmeath and kildares stadium plans. surely its time for some sort of central stadium planning body in the gaa. what this country needs is one centrally located stadium with a roof that can seat 25,000 and finally weather proof our games. how about the athlone arena, a central enough location where every sunday a double header top league games can be played. giving up all these town center locations for stadiums that will be empty for 99% of the time may be a bad idea in the longterm... what do others think?

I agre witht he idea of an overall plan instead of every county trying to develop a stadium and then hoping to attract big championship games which will be the only time it's full. Glad to see Weatmeath and kildare go for 20-25k sizes, there are way too many 40k+ [built and proposed] in Munster

[Bogball XV]

I'd be in favour of every county having a Parnell Park or Pearse Park (Longford version) type of stadium, capacity circa 14,000 - that should accommodate virtually all of a county's needs - then maybe one larger stadium per every 3/4 counties  - for example, Ulster has Omagh in NW, Casement n the NE and Clones in the south.

[Croí na hÉireann]

i see clones is in line for a 30m upgrade following hot on the heels of westmeath and kildares stadium plans. surely its time for some sort of central stadium planning body in the gaa. what this country needs is one centrally located stadium with a roof that can seat 25,000 and finally weather proof our games. how about the athlone arena, a central enough location where every sunday a double header top league games can be played. giving up all these town center locations for stadiums that will be empty for 99% of the time may be a bad idea in the longterm... what do others think?

Westmeath GAA has only been given the green light by its clubs to enter into negotiations with interestied developers, not a done deal by any stretch. See articles below. However the proposed stadium would seem to meet most of your criteria and hopefully gets developed. The below article does mention that it will be all seater but doesn't specify if it will be completely covered or not. Personally I'd like to see a terrace area behind one of the goals as some people depend on the cheaper tickets and others just prefer to stand at a match.

Westmeath stadium plan gets go-ahead

Westmeath GAA has been given the green light to sell their county headquarters Cusack Park and replace it with a new 26,000 all-seater stadium on the outskirts of Mullingar.

Westmeath chairman Seamus Whelan confirmed the proposal to sell Cusack Park – believed to be worth over €30 million – was given the go-ahead by the county's clubs at a meeting last Thursday.

Developers are to provide the board with a new stadium in Robinstown on the Castlepollard Road in exchange for Cusack Park, which is located in the centre of Mullingar. The project would incorporate two full-size training pitches, both of which would be floodlit with a synthetic, sand-based surface.

"We have met with the clubs and received their full backing," Whelan said.

"A number of developers have expressed an interest in Cusack Park and our message has been the same, that it's not for sale. We would have to be convinced to move.

"We would require the greatest of facilities, including a state-of-the-art stadium, gymnasium and an administration block. A number of all-weather training pitches would be required also. We are exploring the possibility with developers and will report back to our Management Committee, and if we have a recommendation for the clubs, we will make it to them."

Cusack Park, which underwent a major redevelopment 10 years ago, has been the home of Westmeath GAA since 1933 and is renowned as the venue where legendary commentator Micheal O'Hehir made his first broadcast from.

Westmeath chief denies Park sale

Westmeath chairman Seamus Whelan has refuted suggestions that the sale of Cusack Park in Mullingar is a done deal.

Ambitious plans to sell Cusack Park and relocate to a new 28,000 all-seater stadium at Robinstown on the outskirts of the town were given an enthusiastic welcome by Westmeath clubs at a specially convened meeting last week. But Whelan denies that the plan is at an advanced stage.

"The situation is that the county board (club delegates) has given the board officers permission to explore the possibility of selling Cusack Park, and to come back to them if we get a favourable deal," he said.

"If the clubs are in agreement with a move from Cusack Park, we will then have to receive permission from Central Council for the deal to be finalised. It will be very hard to reject an offer that was very favourable to us.

"However, we won't move unless we are guaranteed enhanced facilities to that which currently exist at Cusack Park. In particular, we badly need training facilities for our county teams as at the moment we have to use club grounds."

The Castletown-Geoghegan man stressed that any profits from the possible sale of Cusack Park would not be used to clear the board's debt which is believed to be in excess of EUR700,000.