Stadium update

[qprjeff1882]

http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/q...ristie-stadium



QPR are looking into the possibility of a new 30,000-capacity ground on the site of the Linford Christie Stadium.

It comes amid continued problems and delays with the proposed regeneration of Old Oak, where the club has been seeking to build a stadium.

Rangers are now assessing the feasibility of a new community stadium in partnership with athletics club Thames Valley Harriers.

Harriers use the venue next to Wormwood Scrubs, which opened as the West London Stadium in 1967 and was renamed in 1993 – the year after the Hammersmith-raised Christie won an Olympic 100 metres gold medal.

It is situated just a mile from Loftus Road, which has been QPR’s home for all but three of the last hundred years.

[nasser95]

Played there a few times, or at least next to the site, but unless massive changes are made, which I assume will be the case given that they want the site, it didn't come across as an ideal place.

[Jimmy Floyd Rabbit]

Uncles OOC money making dream flittering away???

[West Acton]

I would not be Against LC stadium as location. OOC would be ideal but both sites would make sense and 30k sensible capacity

[LoftusRoadLad]

Lenford lived dead opposite me growing up in Loftus Road. He was fast as a kid !!

[corbray]

Does it mean we want to use lc stadium or rebuild an entirely new one on the site?

[LoftusRoadLad]

Does it mean we want to use lc stadium or rebuild an entirely new one on the site?

Gotta be rebuild from grass up.

[MYU]

I would not be Against LC stadium as location. OOC would be ideal but both sites would make sense and 30k sensible capacity

As long as the stadium can be expanded further in the future, also need parking so we can charge the away fans and generate more income.

We can't just sit there and wait for the OOC, it could still take years.

[Ablockhoop]

Sufficient parking would be a issue wouldn't it? At least it's some news!! Can't wait for a new stadium. Loftus road is terrible these days and getting worse by the season

[LoftusRoadLad]

As long as the stadium can be expanded further in the future, also need parking so we can charge the away fans and generate more income.

We can't just sit there and wait for the OOC, it could still take years.

Theres a massive car park next to it or has that gone ?

[jmelanie]

QPR eyeing new ground on site of Christie athletics track from the Times
The scheme would be part funded by selling Loftus Road.

Queens Park Rangers hope to draw up plans soon for a new 30,000-seat stadium on the site of the Linford Christie athletics track in west London.

The club have scaled down their ambitious project, announced four years ago, to leave Loftus Road for a 40,000-capacity ground, which they had hoped to be playing in by next year.

That scheme was part of a wider regeneration plan for the area but has been bogged down by delays and political uncertainty. The Sky Bet Championship club now aim to build a smaller stadium on council-run land in the shadow of Wormwood Scrubs prison.

They intend to knock down the Linford Christie Stadium, home to the Thames Valley Harriers, and build a new ground with a new athletics track adjacent to it. The estimated construction cost is said to be substantially cheaper than the reported £200 million cost of the original plan.

The proposed stadium would be funded by the QPR owners — Air Asia chief executive Tony Fernandes and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal — and property developments, including a £175 million joint venture project with Genesis Housing Association, which already has planning permission, and the sale of Loftus Road, which is a mile to the south and has been the club’s home since 1917.

Their present ground has a capacity of 18,238, and many of its facilities are outdated and inadequate. The ground has no potential for conference and corporate events to generate income on non-match days.

Informal discussions have taken place with Hammersmith & Fulham council, which operates the Linford Christie Stadium.

Complexities arise, however, in the form of who owns the stadium and the surrounding land. The council holds the Wormwood Scrubs land in trust for the “use by the inhabitants of the metropolis for exercise and recreation” under an act of parliament. It is unclear whether the club would buy or take a long lease on the site given the planning constraints

The club may also face local objections, while access to the site could be a problem, especially as the stadium is adjacent to Hammersmith Hospital.

The athletics facility, which was built in 1967 and has a small stand, was renamed after Great Britain Olympic 100 metres gold medallist Christie in 1993 and redeveloped between 2004 and 2006, when additional facilities for football, rugby and hockey were installed. It is in need of investment and is mainly used as a training facility, and stages some low-key meetings.

QPR had hoped to build their new home on the Old Oak Common site on the north edge of Wormwood Scrubs and take advantage of a £10 billion regeneration over hundreds of acres of west London. However the club ran into problems acquiring land from Cargiant, a used-car dealership,

The scheme had the backing of then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, but Sadiq Khan, his successor, branded the UK’s biggest regeneration project “a mess” in a review that called on the government to reduce the financial burden it could place on Londoners.

The club have also faced opposition to their plan to move from a site rented from Imperial College in Harlington, in Middlesex, and build a new training facility in Warren Farm, Southall. Planning was approved but a local group want a public footpath across the site.

[WeAreQPR12]

Blimey Mel very long post, you've done what we call a Nasser on us!

[jmelanie]

HOOS RESPONDS TO STADIUM SPECULATION

Read more at http://www.qpr.co.uk/news/article/20...PYHg8U2RxI1.99

[Southport]

This could work out very well - but there is potential for this to be held up. Above it is described as holding "low key athletics meetings". This is true, however last season it held a British Athletics League match (this is the highest level of domestic competition) and the facilities were also used for the base for the South of England Cross Country relays in October. Every January the facilities are also used for the Middlesex cross country champs.
To get approval from the athletics community the new athletics stadium would need to be built first before destroying the old one (or construction would need to start on a new athletics stadium in February just after the county champs). If QPR did a deal with Thames Valley Harriers, and didn't take into account the needs of the Middlesex County AA or the South of England Athletics Association, then there will be protests. However the track facilities are currently awful, so if a reasonable amount of consideration is shown then this would be a winner.

[Tarbie]

I can only assume that what is being speculated is a complete rebuild of the stadium and surrounding area. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no shortage of land around there is there? Could do something really nice there, purpose built with a car park and a few bars and restaurants around it!