by royc on Fri Sep 15, 2017 3:14 pm
The Hearts stand sounds about right for cost. The closest example of a recent and modern 10,000-seater stadium I can think of is Chelmsford FC, a new build that came out at £14.5m five years ago, so probably around £17m today the way building materials have soared in cost.
A good chunk of that goes on buying the land and putting in access roads, services, car parks etc. That's why I think the best bet in town remains the Murrayfield back pitches, because the SRU already owns the land, has the access roads, services and parking on site, as well as groundsmen and their kit, gyms etc. With M''field Wanderers moved out, there's 4 pitches sitting there not getting very much use at all.
How hard would it be to build one main 3,500-seater stand and put up three temporary ones a la Myreside to start with? Everything else is there already on the site. The idea that the SRU would have to cough up all the dosh is not the way to approach it, a sports union is well-placed to call in public funding, from both government (SportScotland) and Cooncil. There is also an option to raise private money via a share offering and naming rights and to follow the debenture route for supporters. Set up properly, the SRU could get out of it paying a third or a quarter and much of that in land value. So something in the order of £3-4m for the initial set-up, less the value of the land (which has risen a lot now it's no longer classed as a flood plain).
A mini-Murrayfield would be ideal for things like the club cup finals day, youth and school finals, Ladies and age-grade internationals etc, as well as Embra Rugby's home.
All the other options involve paying dead money in rent for a stadium that is not ideal, being too small or having a running track round it or not enough parking or too far out.