Luton Town Relocation Plans

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Like it or not, kids and families want a shiny new stadium, not Kenilworth Road and the area its located.

Our position will be strengthened by MK Dongs being relegated this season, which is another indictment of football in this country.

We find ourselves in a mutually similar position, the current upwards progression of the Donkeys coming to a halt is only good news for us as well.
Not so much the fans changing allegiance (they don't need to return), it's the 'new' younger fans who go to them because of their shiny stadium and previously positive results...

 

[Hatter86]

To be honest, our attendances have remained about the same. The Conference win helped and the first season back in the League was always going to bring people back, but with early season ticket sales up for next season, it seems that thankfully the rise of this odious little 'club' hasn't affected us.

 

[Kenneth E End]

A bit of an update in last night's programme. The budget for the whole project has been agreed - no expense spared; more details to be announced shortly. A whole band of consultants are working with the club at the moment including: "a Project Manager, two architect firms, Quantity Surveyors, Planning Consultants, Structural and Civil Engineers, Technical Surveyors, Transportation and Environment Consultants, Legal Advisors, Tax and Accounting Advisors, Economic Analysts and Bankers."

Wouldn't surprise me if all of their wages came to around £500,000-£1m at the end of it. This huge project is starting to feel very real now.

 

[Judge Dredd]

3D model of our apparently final ground design to be submitted for formal planning application this summer:

The pitch is sunken beneath ground level so that you enter the stands behind each goal at the back/top and walk down them which should be pretty cool.

Here's some mock-ups of how it will look from inside when all is ready:

Looks facking great to me, love the overhead floodlight thing and NO SOULLESS BOWL!!! Bonus.

 

[Hatter86]

Really like it. Love the sunken end stands. Will be an incredibly intimate ground. Feels like it could really be happening now.

 

[Urban]

I know nothing about this stuff - would a sunken pitch ever have flooding issues? The drainage must be pretty important, more so than usual

 

[Hatter86]

No idea. There's a lot to be done to the site. It's contaminated, there's a power sub station that needs to move and there's a river running through it that needs to be redirected. I would have thought that if they are managing to circumnavigate these issues then the subject of flooding would have been addressed.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I know Sunderland's pitch is way below ground level so it must be feasible. You would think there would be issues inherent with the river (such as it is) being so close as well, but it must have been thought of before the design was done. As Hatter86 points out, there's an absolute ton of work to be done on that site before we even think about starting building the stadium.

 

[Urban]

I like the idea of the sunken pitch though - must really hold the atmosphere in. Kenilworth Road is many things but it does hold an atmosphere - bit of a tradition to uphold in the new place!

I have a lot to say about Luton (and will continue to do so!) but that stadium looks fantastic, hopefully it goes along without any hitches but offers absolutely no benefits to your league standing whatsoever

 

[Hatter86]

I like the weird scaffoldy thing holding the flood lights. It's supposed to be a hat. Apparently.

 

[Kenneth E End]

THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Got to say, a bit of wee came out when I first saw this, this morning.

This plan is one of a bout 6-8 schemes that were announced today signally £1.5bn of investment in the town, including new homes, an extended shopping centre, airport plans, retail, business etc. This is a huge game-changer for the town as a whole - an kudos to Luton Borough Council for the ambition.

The stadium itself is part of a complex web of planning and financial issues. Power Court is to be financed by Newlands Park, which is being financed initially by the FC. This project is going to cost £10ms. A music venue, new homes, F&B and retail will all be part of the site. The ground itself looks fantastic. The halo lighting is said to be a world first; the club want to be different and as such no expense has been spared.

From someone who was thinking about moving outside the town, I may have thought again now.

 

[Hatter86]

Genuinely exciting times. The rail link between Parkway and the Airport will be a major bonus. Newlands and the Napier Gateway will bring a whole new level of commercial, leisure and hospitality options. And it helps that the ground will be a gentle 15 minute stroll down Hitchin Road from Casa de Hatter86.

Bravo 2020.

 

[Kenneth E End]

For me, there is only one thing that could potentially jeopardise this project (without trying to put a dampener on things) - an economic downturn that is being predicted by bankers and such like. With a project as complex as this one, everything needs to come together.

 

[Amber Nectar]

I like the look of this, as other have said the lack of a bowl design is a major plus.

 

[WH_Stag]

Looks good, and one thing i think is great, it doesnt look like a typical league two ground! With this you can believe luton are actually a club that should be in league one/championship

How are the club paying for it though? Will it have an affect after similar to arsenal where they couldn't buy a decent squad for years though, but i can see something shiny and nice like this attracting bigger crowds.

Really like it and I'm jealous we cant make our ground at stags nicer haha

 

[Judge Dredd]

Looks good, and one thing i think is great, it doesnt look like a typical league two ground! With this you can believe luton are actually a club that should be in league one/championship

How are the club paying for it though? Will it have an affect after similar to arsenal where they couldn't buy a decent squad for years though, but i can see something shiny and nice like this attracting bigger crowds.

We've bought land off of Junction 10a of the M1 to use for an enabling development, which as Kenny mentioned above includes retail, housing, entertainment venues etc. That's going to set us back something like £10m, funded by investors with very deep pockets, and then the profit made from that used to finance the land at Power Court and the new stadium. I would definitely imagine it will hit the playing budget side of things to some degree in the short term, but it's something we have to do if we ever want to be sustainable as a top League One club or beyond.

 

[Aberstone]

Luton vs. Watford on the scoreboard in the first mock-up image.

I really hope no NIMBYs block 2020 getting planning permission from Luton Borough Council on the new stadium at Power Court. The plans look incredible and were this to bear fruition, the new ground would get plenty of floaters supporting the club.

Good for the club, good for the town.

 

[Bosox]

Looks absolutely stunning. Fantastic to see the club at the heart of the plans for the whole of Luton as well such a change to see the club and the Council seeming to be working so closely together.

The dates Sweet gave for the planning process look wildly optimistic though, even with Council support. He said they hoped to submit the application this summer and get the final ok by Jan 1 2017. I can't see any way that process for both sites can be done that quickly, you just know that some local NIMBYs will want to pursue every single avenue and drag it through the courts.

Sweet said that the plan is to be playing there by 2020, I wonder how much, if any, wiggle room there is in that date to take account of a longer planning process.

That concern aside it really is wonderful so see actual, tangible progress on the stadium issue which has been no more than words and dreams for as long as I have been a fan and decades before that as well.

 

[StagsForLife]

Didn't like it from the mockup 3D design showing the exterior, however the more detailed prototype showing the inside looks really good. Must say if it lives up to that design it will be one of the aesthetically pleasing stadium designs in England imo.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Looks good, and one thing i think is great, it doesnt look like a typical league two ground! With this you can believe luton are actually a club that should be in league one/championship

How are the club paying for it though? Will it have an affect after similar to arsenal where they couldn't buy a decent squad for years though, but i can see something shiny and nice like this attracting bigger crowds.

Really like it and I'm jealous we cant make our ground at stags nicer haha

The board assure us that this project is separate from the day to day running of the FC. It's a totally different company - "2020 Developments" but in reality it's intrinsically linked. It allows the people behind the scheme to accrue sensible levels of debt. The playing budget would remain unaffected.

This project as a whole is incredibly ambitious - I'd estimate the final budget to be around £75m at least. We've already spent £10m on the land at Newlands Park and I guess a similar amount will be spent at Power Court. Then you've got to decontaminate the site at PC, remove the power station, redirect the river and build the stadium deep into the ground. Alongside it you have new homes, retail, leisure and alongside this you have the same (plus offices) at Newlands. It's a huge project - I'm incredibly excited about it.

The most important thing is that we'd own this ground and it would be put into a Trust for the benefit of the club.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Didn't like it from the mockup 3D design showing the exterior, however the more detailed prototype showing the inside looks really good. Must say if it lives up to that design it will be one of the aesthetically pleasing stadium designs in England imo.

Designs are modified in big projects - scale models are rarely 100% reality.

 

[Habbinalan]

Will the stand roofs be solid gold or just gilt?

Impressed.

 

[You Orns]

Ugh.

I suppose I have to criticise it as a Watford fan. Personally I'd prefer if there was more of an 'end' but apart from that it looks like an annoyingly good ground.

Then again it's a new stadium for Luton which reduces its likelihood of happening by about 50% compared to if it was for anyone else.

Better push ahead with our own stadium expansion plans now, can't have you lot finally start to catch up.

(And I guess that scoreboard means that we are the significantly bigger team your playing in a friendly to open it )

 

[Kenneth E End]

Personally I'd prefer if there was more of an 'end'

Don't disagree - at a guess, I'm going to say that the smaller "ends" are designed to imitate the Oak Road end (without the leg room and entrance!) A low ceiling, generating more atmosphere onto the pitch.

The stadium has been designed with expansion in mind - the original plan said 'with the ability to expand to 22,500 seats', but in reality, I think those stands could easily accomodate more than 5,000 extra seats if we needed to.

 

[genesimmons]

Ground looks like it has a bit character, rare these days

 

[genesimmons]

THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Got to say, a bit of wee came out when I first saw this, this morning.

This plan is one of a bout 6-8 schemes that were announced today signally £1.5bn of investment in the town, including new homes, an extended shopping centre, airport plans, retail, business etc. This is a huge game-changer for the town as a whole - an kudos to Luton Borough Council for the ambition.

The stadium itself is part of a complex web of planning and financial issues. Power Court is to be financed by Newlands Park, which is being financed initially by the FC. This project is going to cost £10ms. A music venue, new homes, F&B and retail will all be part of the site. The ground itself looks fantastic. The halo lighting is said to be a world first; the club want to be different and as such no expense has been spared.

From someone who was thinking about moving outside the town, I may have thought again now.

Notice you mention a music venue it. Was nothing much for live music when i lived in the town and proposals for a venue in old cinema came to nowt. Either town hates live music or theres been nowt decent hosting bands over years

 

[Luke Imp]

I know nothing about this stuff - would a sunken pitch ever have flooding issues? The drainage must be pretty important, more so than usual

Wouldn't have thought so if the drainage was correct.

MK Dons' pitch is well below ground level.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Looks great, any danger of any pubs actually being located near this ground? The only one near Kenilworth Rd is that boring old conservative club!

 

[Urban]

Wouldn't have thought so if the drainage was correct.

MK Dons' pitch is well below ground level.

Just s concept I've not really thought/heard of before. I just have images of the 2012 film tsunami sweeping across the outskirts of Luton and the ground becoming their newest outdoor swimming pool.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Looks great, any danger of any pubs actually being located near this ground? The only one near Kenilworth Rd is that boring old conservative club!

The site for the new ground is very close to the train station and Arndale etc so there will be a lot of pubs much, much closer to the ground than currently for sure.