SO, will it be a new year and a gleaming new stand for Rovers? We certainly hope so and if you want to know more about the proposals for Blackthorn End then gasheads.com will be doing our best to keep you up to date. There’s a fair amount of information available via Bristol City Council with the plans for the Mem redevelopment now online via the Council Website. Hard copies of the plans, which support Rovers’ planning application, can also be inspected at Brunel House.

Each PDF doc listed on the site shows a different detail, from the existing structure to the proposed phased development, to the North Stand (Phase One) plans.

The four phases of the re-development are:

Phase One: North Stand (including North East corner). This is the phase to which the current planning application relates and involves the replacement of the current Blackthorn End with a new ‘North Stand’. The North East Stand is the corner section that will link to the East Stand (the current Centenary Stand).

Phase Two: The South Stand. This will replace the ‘Tent End’ with a new permanent structure.

Phase Three: The East Stand. The replacement of the current Centenary Stand with a new structure along the length of the pitch.

Phase Four: New Enclosure to the West Stand. A new structure adjoining the current West Stand at its Southern end.

When all of these are completed the Memorial Ground should have a capacity of 16,500 although it should be noted that no timescale has been given for any of the phases bar the first.

The most detailed plans available at the moment are for the proposed North and North East stands, which form the current application lodged with the Council. These cover a total of 4927 seats, of which 3914 make up the North Stand (i.e. behind the goal) and 1013 are in the North East corner. There will be spaces for 29 disabled fans and 29 helpers in two disabled viewing decks. The seating is comprised in what looks like 9 blocks, 5 larger areas behind the goal with a smaller section at either end and two blocks in the North East corner.

The stand is a single storey structure with three floors inside it. On the ground floor the plans show a large concourse with two ‘concession’ areas. We presume that this will form the bar area, almost certainly the same as those seen all over the country (breeze block walls, plastic glasses, fizzy beer). That said, none of us could have expected anything different: Such bars may not be the most pleasant of surroundings to drink in but they are functional and provide somewhere for fans to congregate before games and at half time.

On “Level One” there are a number of other facilities marked: a bar, a kitchen, a crèche, a Health and Fitness Suite and an IT Suite/Conference/hospitality (we presume this is a multi-purpose room). The crèche is excellent news and it’s something many of us at gasheads.com have advocated for a number of years. The other facilities will also be useful with the Health and Fitness suite presumably open to the public, thus offering the club the chance to increase revenue and giving the local community the opportunity to use the stadium.

Further up again, on Level Two, there are classrooms, a conference room, 12 hospitality boxes and 2 disabled viewing boxes.

Both the East and South Stands will have similar concourse areas to the North Stand when they are completed and the East Stand will also house the club shop, offices and ticket sales areas. Further to that, details are not shown for the second, third and fourth phases.

News Index here

News Archive here