Casement Park in line for major overhaul - 40,000 all seater Stadium.

Started by Joxer, October 06, 2010, 02:42:28 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Wacko

Major announcement made on Casement Park project today. Design team has been appointed. Click on the link below for more info:

http://ulster.gaa.ie/2012/09/major-milestone-in-casement-project/

BennyCake

40,000 all seater stadium. I reckon Casement will be hosting the Ulster finals from now on then. Sounds class.

Dougal Maguire

Design team was involved in the Mbombela Stadium in South Africa which has the same 3 tier layout as Croke Park.
Careful now

armaghniac

QuoteI reckon Casement will be hosting the Ulster finals from now on then.

It will be good crack when they abolish the provincial championships and have a champions league type format, the Antrim home games will be rocking.
If at first you don't succeed, then goto Plan B

stibhan

Hopefully when the Stadium is finished it will boost attendances in the county, which have been flagging seriously. Would be nice to have a bumper crowd for a county final, or even a championship match for once. If they build up enough anticipation and knock the design out of the park it could be massive for the future of Antrim and Ulster GAA.

Rossfan

I doubt if the thousands are staying away from Antrim Club games because Casement isn't all seated.
Davy's given us a dream to cling to
We're going to bring home the SAM

armaghniac

Sadly, the only way you'd get a big crowd of locals in Casement Park was to have a Celtic v Rangers game.
If at first you don't succeed, then goto Plan B

Saffrongael

Quote from: armaghniac on September 03, 2012, 09:02:49 PM
Sadly, the only way you'd get a big crowd of locals in Casement Park was to have a Celtic v Rangers game.

sad but true, you get more in the few pubs near Casement watching soccer than you would get inside it for an Antrim game.
Let no-one say the best hurlers belong to the past. They are with us now, and better yet to come

saffron sam2

Quote from: BennyCake on September 03, 2012, 01:06:15 PM
40,000 all seater stadium. I reckon Casement will be hosting the Ulster finals from now on then. Sounds class.

As it should be. May Clones be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Quote from: stibhan on September 03, 2012, 06:21:24 PM
Hopefully when the Stadium is finished it will boost attendances in the county, which have been flagging seriously. Would be nice to have a bumper crowd for a county final, or even a championship match for once. If they build up enough anticipation and knock the design out of the park it could be massive for the future of Antrim and Ulster GAA.

A 40K stadium would be the worst place to play an Antrim county final. Take her up the country. Creggan, Loughgiel, Dunloy, Ballymena, Hannahstown.
the breathing of the vanished lies in acres round my feet

Tony Baloney

Will Hardstation watch my motor for a fiver?

Is the new stadium ever expected to repay the outlay?

armaghniac

QuoteIs the new stadium ever expected to repay the outlay?


The outlay to the GAA is negligible. The whole idea is to get Windsor Park done up, this is a just a side expense.
If at first you don't succeed, then goto Plan B

Eamonnca1

The Irish Times - Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Planned £76m redevelopment of Casement Park moves closer

Down fans at a game against Antrim at Casement Park last year. When work is completed, the park will be the major stadium in Ulster. The plan is set to ensure big championship games will be held in Belfast rather than Clones. Photograph: Russell Pritchard/Presseye/Inpho

PLANS TO create a 40,000 all-seater GAA stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast have moved a "significant" step closer after international engineering consultancy firm Mott MacDonald Ltd was appointed to design it.

The £76.4 million (€96.4 million) project – with the Northern Executive providing the bulk of the funding – is due to be completed by 2015. Sinn Féin Minister for Sports Carál Ní Chuilín said at Casement Park yesterday that this was one of the most exciting GAA projects since the redevelopment of Croke Park.

When completed, Casement Park will be the major stadium in Ulster. The development is likely to ensure big provincial championship games including Ulster finals will be played in Belfast rather than Clones, Co Monaghan.

The GAA described the latest development in the plans to regenerate Casement as a "significant milestone", adding: "It represents real and tangible progress on the long-held strategic ambition of the GAA at provincial and central level to provide a modern, fit-for-purpose and iconic stadium to meet the needs of the GAA in Ulster for the next half century."

The Northern Executive is due to provide funding of £61.4 million through its sports department, with the GAA putting up funding of up to £15 million. When completed, Casement Park will be a 40,000 all-seater substantially covered stadium.

Mott MacDonald Ltd will lead a team of consultants, the integrated consultancy team (ICT), to take forward the design. It has been involved in the redesign of Wembley and the Emirates Stadium in London as well as the Olympic stadium there.

Previous plans to create a major stadium on the old Maze prison site near Lisburn to accommodate the needs of the GAA, the Irish Football Association and the Ulster Rugby Football Union did not materialise because of political disagreement.

It was decided that funding would be allocated to the different bodies, with the GAA receiving £61.4 million, the IFA £25.2 million and URFU £14.7 million.

"This represents a significant step in the progress of the stadium development programme. The upgrade of the GAA's Casement Park, rugby's Ravenhill and soccer's Windsor Park have been a key priority for both me and my department," said Ms Ní Chuilín.

"As well as the obvious benefits to sports fans that these stadiums bring, there are also the wider socio-economic benefits and employment opportunities being brought forward in these challenging economic times," the Minister added.

GAA director general Pauric Duffy, welcoming the plan, said the association's £15 million investment was a huge undertaking in the current economic climate.

"We invested something similar in Thurles as well, but that was in better times," he said.

"We will have to borrow some of the money, but to be fair, no one said 'No, we shouldn't do this'.

"From management to central council, there was not one single dissenting voice . . . Everybody wants the GAA in Ulster to have the iconic stadium it deserves."

Syferus

Another fecking white Elephant. Only a single game a year is likely to even trouble the 30k mark. The GAA has to learn that building out-sized stadiums only results in destroying the athmosphere of almost every game played there. And once something like this is built it becomes a clusterf**k to try and get as many games played in it as possible just to service the mountain of the debt it generated.

Eamonnca1

40,000 sounds like a decent capacity.  Any more than that and then you'd be getting into white elephant territory. For Ulster finals that are likely to draw bigger crowds (Tyrone v Armagh) you can always use Croke.

rrhf