Feature

Plymouth signs off on grandstand redevelopment

English League 1 football club Plymouth Argyle has this week confirmed plans to redevelop the grandstand at its Home Park stadium.

Argyle will work with specialist stadium developer GLevents on the project and hopes to have the new stand open early in the 2019-20 season.

The club expects to spend over £6.5m (€7.2m/$8.4m) on the work, which will take the total capacity at Home Park to 17,904. The grandstand will be designed to allow the club to extend seating to over 20,000 in the future.

Features inside the stand will include new conference and banqueting facilities, as well as improved toilets, a new club shop and ticket office, and fan bars.

The redeveloped grandstand will be named after the historic ‘Mayflower’ ship that transported the first Pilgrims from Plymouth to the Americas in 1620.

Should construction be completed in time, the grandstand will have been open for a number of months when the Mayflower 400-year anniversary celebrations take place in 2020.

Plymouth Argyle chairman James Brent said: “Argyle deserves a high quality stadium not just for the team and our loyal fans, but also for the wider community of Plymouth, to provide an economic driver of tourism.

“When Argyle emerged from administration seven years ago, the board committed to delivering a new stadium. So I am delighted that we have now taken the crucial step to realising our vision for Home Park.”

GLevents has previously worked with various other football clubs on stadium development projects, including Premier League side Watford. The firm was also involved in projects for the 2012 summer Olympic Games in London.

Scott Jameson, managing director for GLevents UK, said: “GL events has a market-leading track record of success in high quality construction for sporting events – from permanent and temporary grandstand seating, to event structures and overlay – and we look forward to the successful delivery of this project.”

Image: Euanargyle