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Ground Development - Decision Expected in May

Discussion in 'Fulham' started by Cottager58, Apr 24, 2012.

  1. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    They won't publish anything until the contracts are let, but 'this time next year' is the expectation.
     
    #61
  2. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #62
  3. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    The recent news about Hillsborough reminded me that 11 years ago we were given 1 year to bring the ground up to the newly defined Premiership standard. What I had forgotten was that Twickenham was our preferred option as a surrogate home while the work took place. Unfortunately that didn't happen and, well we all know where we went.

    http://www.fulham-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/cottagers_rebuffed_in_twickenham_bid_16612/index.shtml

    Interesting reminder also, that the vision back then was for a 30,000 capacity ground. Here's a link to an equally interesting history of the trials and tribulations in development of the Cottage, including details of what that new ground would have looked like -

    http://www.toofif.co.uk/TOOFIF/Craven_Cottage_-_A_history_by_David_Lloyd.html
     
    #63
  4. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Almost inevitably, the anti-brigade are still brandishing their fists. The "Friends of Bishops Park" are to discuss the approved development of Craven Cottage at their AGM next Wednesday, 17th October -

    http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/local-fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2012/10/12/82029-32021142/

    Apart from more wailing I can't see what they hope to achieve - there are no Appeal procedures of the LBH&F decision available and the time limit on seeking a Judicial Review has expired.
     
    #64
  5. Super Brian McBride

    Super Brian McBride Well-Known Member

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    Leaping forward to the time when the new Riverside stand is built

    I wonder what effect it will have on our present support.

    Will people want to re-locate to it from other parts of the stadium ?
    I wonder what the pricing will be for Season Tickets ? will the Upper be more expensive ?
    Will the lower stand become cheaper, will the lower part of the stand be more open to the elements ?
    Would it be a better idea that the club try to get the vocal support moved into the new stand ?
     
    #65
  6. Captain Morgan

    Captain Morgan Well-Known Member

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    The most vocal support will always be in the Hammersmith End. It's an accepted rule of crowd dynamics that the most vocal tend to congregate back and centre of an end behind the goal. I'm hoping that some of the existing Haynes Stand crowd will move to the Riverside, but that's largely because I prefer going in the Haynes and want to be able to buy better seats there!
     
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  7. GeraScores

    GeraScores Well-Known Member

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    What the club have proposed seems reasonable, but there will always be the objectors. Its only maybe 25 matches a year.

    I think the most vocal wil stay in the Hammy End. We have season tickets in Haynes, which I do like, especially in the second half when attacking our end of the pitch towards the most noise. The odd thing is the acoustics - on a few occasions that I've taken people into the Putney End but The Cottage, I notice that the sounds from the Hammy End down not carry down the pitch so well.
     
    #67
  8. FFC_Madness

    FFC_Madness Well-Known Member

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    Will be staying at Haynes stand. I like the old feel and connection to the roots...
     
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  9. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Just to keep the pot boiling, 10 years ago today (12th November 2002) MAF decided that Craven Cottage was to remain Fulham's home. At that time, and for the second time in our history (the first being in 1896), we nearly went to Stamford Bridge.

    This was the story :

    In MAF we Trust.
     
    #69
  10. toshchamberlainsmate

    toshchamberlainsmate Well-Known Member

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    Good old MAF - blessings of The Prophet be upon him.
     
    #70

  11. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Seven years ago today (28th November 2005), following the tragic death of Johnny Haynes, the Club announced that the Stevenage Road Stand would be re-named The Johnny Haynes Stand.

    please log in to view this image
     
    #71
  12. FFC_Madness

    FFC_Madness Well-Known Member

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    And still the best part of the ground :)
     
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  13. Cravingawin

    Cravingawin Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely!
     
    #73
  14. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Tenders for the Riverside development are now in and it's expected that Best and Final Offers will be invited from preferred suppliers in January.

    Ironically it was 9 years ago this week that the Club announced that they had had enough of Loftus Road and would be returning to Craven Cottage at the start of the 2004/5 season. This followed Hammersmith & Fulham Borough Council approval (on 17th December 2003) of the planning application for the ground as we know it today (well more or less).
     
    #74
  15. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    By way of an update, this is what MAF said in last night's programme :


    “We still have every intention of re-developing the Riverside Stand. We are currently holding meetings with the authorities regarding the proposed timescales and ensuring we have satisfied every one of these governing bodies in terms of the various degrees of mitigation needed to allow us to progress. This is an exciting project, and one that will allow us to go to the next level. Would I be doing this if I didn’t believe we have a Team capable of staying in this league, of achieving a top-10 finish?”
     
    #75
  16. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Good news at last. The contract is about to be let.


    The Buckingham Group Contracting is believed to have beaten its rivals to land the £15m contract to revamp and extend Fulham FC’s Riverside Stand at Craven Cottage.

    Source: http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2013/03/12/buckingham-set-to-score-with-15m-fulham-refurb/


    Not quite sure why the value is 'said to be £15m' when previous talk was about a £30m development. Obviously thre will be other costs like project management but it's a big difference nonetheless. Perhaps there are two phases and/or other aspects like the outlets and proposed flats are separate??

    The confirmation that playing at the Cottage will not be affected and a summer start is equally good.


    Footnote: The buckingham Group have got plenty of experience in this area, including the new MK Dons 'Stadium' and the extension at Wolves. Here is a link to their projects site -

    http://www.buckinghamgroup.co.uk/our-projects/sports-leisure-projects
     
    #76
  17. Fulham COYW

    Fulham COYW Well-Known Member

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    I love how you manage to get these updates so quickly. This is great news.

    The photo you show above has been taken from just about where I sit in the Johnny Haynes stand.
     
    #77
  18. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    A new website (Viva El Fulham) have produced a series of articles explaining in more detail plans for the new development. Although the major project relates to the Riverside there is in fact refurbishment taking place in the other stands as well. Here is the first 'installment' and covering the Johnny Haynes -



    The "Grand Old Lady of Football Stands", as the Wikipedia page so eloquently puts it, The JH was built and designed by Archibald Leitch in 1905. It currently holds the record for the world's oldest football stand, and as Fulham fans well know, it holds almost 3,571 wooden Bennet seats, dating back to the day the stand was opened. Recognised by many to be one of the most charismatic football stands in English football, it is the JH Stand that gives the Fulham Ground its disitincive nostalgic charm. However, like all modern football stands, it has needed constant updating, the latest round of which was a complete roof re-tiling that occurred in Summer 2012. However, Fulham are back to update the stand: this time, a hospitality lounge is being put into the stand.

    Now, like many of you reading today, VEF too asked the question "where the hell are they going to stick that?!". The lounge will be placed in the "undercroft" of the stand- that is bang underneath the roof. Fulham reckon that only the ground floor of the stand is being used for anything meaningful- the current space is currently used by supporters concourses that accommodate the bars and food outlets. But above those, in a space which currently contain service pipes, Fulham reckon they can fit in one large hospitality "lounge" and a smaller lounge reception- much like the current McBrides' bar that resides in the ground. The plans also include the implementation of a new servery and a new set of WCs, also in the space that reside above the ground floor.

    The lounge will make use of the current windows that are seen along the Haynes's stand distinctive red brick front, and will upgrade and replace the windows, whilst still retaining the character that the current windows provide.




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    Proposed View of the new lounge. Picture Credit: Fulham FC


    Now, the lounge doesn't actually provide any balcony view onto the pitch, as the new boxes in the Riverside Stand will, but the guests will be provided seats with prime viewing, presumably where the old press gantry was (the press are moving to a new dedicated section in the Riverside Stand). Interestingly, and rather sadly, the guests won't quite get the "authentic" Fulham feel- padded seat overlays will go onto the current wooden seats that make the Stand so famous. They will be removable however, and will have a design that meets English Heritage approval.



    The hospitality lounge will not add any extra capacity to the stand, but with the hospitality boxes in both the Hammersmith and Putney ends set to migrate to purpose built boxes in the new Riverside stand, the lounge will offer the Fulham hospitality team another option in their range of services.

    A further improvement to the stand, and an ingenious use of the tight space within the ground, it seems Fulham are keen to make the most of their quaint old ground. As a strong supporter of the "Back to the Cottage" campaign, I personally am delighted to see yet more examples of a club keen to stay at their historic and charismatic home. The addition of the lounge will help make it more viable, and make the most of what we have. The plans, with no set "pricing" on them, should go ahead this summer after being approved for planning permission in March 2012.
     
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  19. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    The second ‘instalment’ is about the Putney End where little change is planned.


    Named as such because it faces towards Putney, the Putney End is a relatively new stand: like the Hammersmith End, it was only made into its current "temporary" seated form in early 2004, when a major refit of the ground took place in order to accommodate Fulham's top flight status. Traditionally a second home stand, the Putney End has progressed to occupying away fans and the necessary evilthat is tourists, but recently has seen a resurgence in Fulham fans, with "Cottage Corner" now occupying season ticket holders.

    A large TV screen was installed in the summer of 2012, providing an interesting modern counterbalance to the historic and famous Cottage that resides to the Stevenage Road side of the stand- a counterbalance that perhaps best reminds Fulham fans where the club has come from, where it aims to go but most importantly, of the keenness torespect what made Fulham - tradition, principles and class.

    Enough of my nostalgic, pro-Fulham rambling. I'll get onto the actual article now: what are Fulham planning to do to the stand? Well, not an overly large amount, disappointingly. With such expensive works being carried out on both the Riverside and Johnny Haynes stand however, this is not overly surprising. What is happening however is that the Putney Stand west gable and roof will be cut back to match the line of the Hammersmith End, to create a "clean line for the end stair cores that support the roof structure". Furthermore, with the addition of the whole professional hospitality "tier" in the Riverside stand, between the lower and upper tiers, the filing cabinet hospitality boxes that currently reside in the corner will be removed and replaced with general admission seats- a net gain of 20 seats for the stand.

    In terms of more mundane renovations, the existing higher earth bank extending from the Putney stand to the southwest corner will be lowered by 1.5-2ms in order to provide easy access to the new Riverside walkway, a key feature of the new Riverside stand. New steps, a platform lift and reconfigured ramping will be provided to connect the two.


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    The Putney End-barely changing. Will look mostly like this


    So, this summer doesn't seem to be a massive mover or shaker for the Putney End. But what could be done? Well in 2007, the club applied to extend the ground to 30,000 in what became known as the "project 30" scheme. This wasn't achieved through the extension of either the Riverside or Hammersmith Ends- this was designed around the implementation of tiered seating in the Putney End. So, realistically, and if the demand becomes so, the club could extend the ground to almost 35,000 through the development of a second tier at the Putney End. Fulham hit the big time!

    The Putney End has needed renovation. The addition of seats will remove the quite frankly ugly hospitality boxes and create a more level looking stand, something that this writer appreciates. I even hope one day that the neutral end will be removed... but hey, we can all dream right? A solid first step in the right direction from Fulham regarding the Putney End, and who knows where it could end up!
     
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  20. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Next up the Hammy End


    The home end, and the beating heart of the Fulham support, the Hammersmith End has witnessed many of the great moments in Fulham's history- from Zoltan Gera's goal that sent Fulham to the final and Clint Dempsey's audacious chip that completed an unlikely an unfancied comeback over Italian giants Juventus to Erik Nevland's placed finish to ensure a real chance at survival in 2008 and Papa Bouba Diop's scorcher to secure a last minute draw against Champions Manchester United. Add to that numerous goals, penalties, heroic goalkeeping performances and you have the Hammersmith End. The Hammy found its current shape in the 2003-4 season, when it, like the Putney End, was tiered over with seating to accommodate Fulham's new top flight status, but the roofing at the back is still the original from 1964, which Alan Mullery financed through his transfer to Spurs. It is traditionally the end to which Fulham play in the second half, and it contains a fantastic banner that reads "We Are Fulham", with the overlooking approved face of Johnny Haynes.

    But it, like all the other stands, is changing. It's changes are similar to those found in the Putney End- but perhaps the are a bit more comprehensive. The current "filing cabinet" hospitality boxes on the riverside only will be removed, and replaced with 303 general admission seats where they currently reside. More people in the home end can only be a positive thing. Perhaps more substantially part of the original 1973 roof, the "back" gable under which currently Fulham fans drink before the game, is to be renovated, but the extent of this is unclear.


    please log in to view this image

    Picture 1- How far will the Roof Extension go? Credit- Fulham FC


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    Picture 2- How far will the extensions go? This suggests only over the boxes... Credit: Fulham FC


    Picture 1 suggests that the entire roof gable will be stripped back and a new roof put in place over the back. However, photo 2 suggests that the gable will only be stripped as far back as the old boxes used to go, with the new roof simply going as far as the boxes did. VEF is unclear about this, but we are sure that this will become apparent in due course. The plans have no construction date yet, but it can be expected that they will go into change after the Riverside Stand has been built during the next year and a half.

    Oh, and whilst we're working round the Hammersmith Stand area, the Michael Jackson statue WILL be removed. You heard me rightly. It will be removed to make place for some car parking spaces and an extended jut of the Riverside Stand. Finally....
    N.b There has been much discussion about the MJ Statue being removed: here, look at these plans. No MJ statue, but car parking spaces for the residential units to be built into new Riverside Stand.

    Whats this? No MJ statue, but car parking and extended section of Riverside stand. Promising... (Credit Fulham FC)


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    A more detailed map, and no MJ statue, but lots of car parking (Credit- Fulham FC)


    Again, the works are not substantial when compared to the Riverside Stand, but they are a promising start. How far could the end be extended? Not far, but considering that these plans from 2007 have become apparent recently, it is clear that something could be done. VEF expresses doubts about the size of the plans, or the extra seats that were to be put in, but something like this could come up again.


    please log in to view this image

    How far could the stand go? As shown by plans in 2007, quite far.


    This a good start- the removal, partly or fully, of an asbestos filled roof will no doubt provide better sight lines and a better environment for everyone at the back of the stand, whilst the addition of 303 seats will only add more Fulham fans being able to squeeze into the passionate beating heart of Fulham- and that is something to be welcomed.
     
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