Lansdowne: the problems
COST The initial cost of leasing Lansdowne Road from the Pembroke Estate back in 1908 was £50 per annum. How things have changed. The cost of revamping the stadium will be around €360m, some €65m more than first announced.
However, both the IRFU and FAI have assured the government that no extra cost will be incurred by the taxpayer, claiming that they will be able to increase their respective contributions by €35m each.
As it stands the government will be contributing €191m to the project. The IRFU have committed around €100m and the FAI €66m. John Delaney has proposed that the money can be raised through the sale of 10-year corporate tickets and he does not anticipate any borrowing.
CORPORATE The corporate world is where the FAI has targeted most, if not all of their energy, in raising the funds required. In revised plans the number and cost of corporate boxes, premium-level seats and corporate facilities have been increased.
A patron who purchases such a ticket for the redeveloped Lansdowne can expect to cough up in the region of €7200. A similar privilege at the new Wembley Stadium will cost you €12000, while anyone who already owns a ticket in Croke Park has paid €7,500.
Economics dictate this strategy is pursued, but our prawn sandwich-munching corporate friends are a fickle bunch. If results are not going well then they are generally the first to turn their back.
CONTRACTS In light of recent catastrophes in the awarding of contracts for major projects, tendering of this process had to be seen to be competitive.
In April Minister John O'Donoghue announced HOK Sport Architecture and PM Ltd as the design and project management teams respectively and these have since been engaged with planning consultant Tom Phillips in the whole process.
The CVs of both teams are impressive. PM is involved in the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium and Twickenham, while HOK Sports are one of the world's largest sports architectural practices. They are also involved in the Wembley project as well as Arsenal's new stadium. Other projects they were involved in are the Millennium Stadium, Croke Park and the upgrades of Ascot and Cheltenham racecourses.
IMPACT As part of the planning process project management and design teams will have to submit an independent Environmental Impact Study.
The two major issues that will affect the local community and general public at large are the potential height of the stadium and the inevitable disruption to DART and inter-city rail services.
On the former issue, increased provisions for corporate seating may increase the height of the new East and West stands, which would further impact on local residents' quality of life.
Of the latter, part of the existing plan - which may be quite different after today - is to provide an underground exit from the stadium which will avoid the severe congestion which occurs around Lansdowne Road DART station after a game.
CROKE PARK The decision of the GAA to open the hallowed gates of Croke Park to other sports was obviously welcomed by everyone who has a love for Irish sport.
But will Ireland's decline in the FIFA World rankings affect the profitability of the Irish team playing at GAA HQ? Attendance figures of 25,000 have been mooted as the threshold of productivity for a match at Croke Park and if Ireland can't attract the big names of world football anymore for friendlies then the FAI could be facing problems.
TIMESCALE As of now the redevelopment is on schedule and management teams are set to lodge a planning application by the end of this year. If the various studies and debate proceed smoothly, construction could commence in 2007. The stadium is expected to take 27 months to complete.
From today, though, when a revised conceptual design is released, the real fun and games can start. It will take all the skill and effort of everyone involved to deliver this project on time and on budget.
In such a built-up area a plethora of planning issues are likely to be faced. The ability of the FAI to generate the capital needed solely from the sale of ten-year tickets is also an area of concern.
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independe...issue_id=13146
