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

[Evil Genius]

Also, a lot of the capacity arguments over the years centred on Casement needing to be at least the same capacity as Clones in order to host Ulster finals.

In 2019, Clones' capacity dropped by 7,500 to 29,000? Just like that....

Why was that?

How would a 25,000 bells & whistles stadium look now? Because they wouldn't have had a problem getting that over the line more than 10 years ago.

There is one "elephant in the room" which has been totally overlooked in all this current debate, namely that of capacity/demand.

The GAA's own Event Management Plan which I quoted above forecasts that there would be precisely ONE sporting event per year which could be expected to fill the stadium to a 32-34k capacity, the Ulster Championship Final:
https://minutes.belfastcity.gov.uk/documents/s92471/APPENDIX%202d%20S76%20Annex%203%20Event%20Management%20Plan.pdf

How can such minimal use ever justify £100m+, esp when there is a (VAT-free) alternative at Clones, while Antrim GAA is somehow managing at Corrigan Park, with it's much smaller capacity?

If people were honest with themselves, they'd have to admit that the elephant is a pure white one.

[Sportacus]

We seem to be heading for a c.30,000 seat concrete block to the tune of well over £100mn.  What a waste of time and money considering it already held 20,000 plus when they locked the gates. Ten million at the time would have transformed it.

[tiempo]

Among the many numerous things to consider is atmosphere, something compact ideally, provincial venues like Omagh while functional struggle to generate a buzz even with 10k+ through the gate

[snoopdog]

A PUC like stadium is all that's required. 2  covered stands and 2 open terraces. It was all that was ever required.

[general]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

[armaghniac]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

[LC]

Also, a lot of the capacity arguments over the years centred on Casement needing to be at least the same capacity as Clones in order to host Ulster finals.

In 2019, Clones' capacity dropped by 7,500 to 29,000? Just like that....

Why was that?

How would a 25,000 bells & whistles stadium look now? Because they wouldn't have had a problem getting that over the line more than 10 years ago.

There is one "elephant in the room" which has been totally overlooked in all this current debate, namely that of capacity/demand.

The GAA's own Event Management Plan which I quoted above forecasts that there would be precisely ONE sporting event per year which could be expected to fill the stadium to a 32-34k capacity, the Ulster Championship Final:
https://minutes.belfastcity.gov.uk/documents/s92471/APPENDIX%202d%20S76%20Annex%203%20Event%20Management%20Plan.pdf

How can such minimal use ever justify £100m+, esp when there is a (VAT-free) alternative at Clones, while Antrim GAA is somehow managing at Corrigan Park, with it's much smaller capacity?

If people were honest with themselves, they'd have to admit that the elephant is a pure white one.

+1

[snoopdog]

Also, a lot of the capacity arguments over the years centred on Casement needing to be at least the same capacity as Clones in order to host Ulster finals.

In 2019, Clones' capacity dropped by 7,500 to 29,000? Just like that....

Why was that?

How would a 25,000 bells & whistles stadium look now? Because they wouldn't have had a problem getting that over the line more than 10 years ago.

There is one "elephant in the room" which has been totally overlooked in all this current debate, namely that of capacity/demand.

The GAA's own Event Management Plan which I quoted above forecasts that there would be precisely ONE sporting event per year which could be expected to fill the stadium to a 32-34k capacity, the Ulster Championship Final:
https://minutes.belfastcity.gov.uk/documents/s92471/APPENDIX%202d%20S76%20Annex%203%20Event%20Management%20Plan.pdf

How can such minimal use ever justify £100m+, esp when there is a (VAT-free) alternative at Clones, while Antrim GAA is somehow managing at Corrigan Park, with it's much smaller capacity?

If people were honest with themselves, they'd have to admit that the elephant is a pure white one.

+1

The money is for Casement so it has to be spent on it regardless of how much.
St Tiernachs pk clones is also a kip.  How much would need spent on it to make it anyway modern.
Then you have the traffic issues involved with it.

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

I wonder what problems there could have been with the stand that caused them to close the entire ground but still allow a social club to operate on the ground floor of said stand to this very day.......

People would believe anything.

[Milltown Row2]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

I wonder what problems there could have been with the stand that caused them to close the entire ground but still allow a social club to operate on the ground floor of said stand to this very day.......

People would believe anything.

The stand was shite near the end to be fair, parts of it at the side were blocked off from sitting at, not sure what the costs would have been to repair the stand and use it, or just close it altogether but use the rest of the stadium and pitch for games

[Rossfan]

Closing the ground was the daftest thing of all.

[Walter Cronc]

Surely it has to be fully covered given our climate. PUC is a joke with both ends open to the elements.

[general_lee]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

I wonder what problems there could have been with the stand that caused them to close the entire ground but still allow a social club to operate on the ground floor of said stand to this very day.......

People would believe anything.

Any number of things related to H&S. It's not beyond the realms of possibility considering the hoops that have to be jumped through to get things signed off nowadays. Hoops that a ground-floor social club probably don't need to jump through.

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

I wonder what problems there could have been with the stand that caused them to close the entire ground but still allow a social club to operate on the ground floor of said stand to this very day.......

People would believe anything.

Any number of things related to H&S. It's not beyond the realms of possibility considering the hoops that have to be jumped through to get things signed off nowadays. Hoops that a ground-floor social club probably don't need to jump through.

To close the entire ground?

What type of things?

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

may well be a silly question at this stage - but is it not possible to salvage the existing stand at this stage? a full revamp of it?

Obviously all of the old terracing has been already removed for the preparation works etc but surely it would make some sense to revamp existing stand if at all possible, put another stand on the far side and have terracing as was previous at both ends>

I don't think so, problems with the old stand were one reason for closing it in the first place.
They can build a new stand, the only issue is its capacity and how sophisticated it is. Modern thinking favours refreshment facilities etc and not just a big shed.

I wonder what problems there could have been with the stand that caused them to close the entire ground but still allow a social club to operate on the ground floor of said stand to this very day.......

People would believe anything.

The stand was shite near the end to be fair, parts of it at the side were blocked off from sitting at, not sure what the costs would have been to repair the stand and use it, or just close it altogether but use the rest of the stadium and pitch for games

And they needed to close the entire ground because of this?