In all honesty i wouldnt clad any of it, 100k is a lot of money to waste for 20 weeks a year........if were lucky, money that coukd be spent elswhere
In all honesty i wouldnt clad any of it, 100k is a lot of money to waste for 20 weeks a year........if were lucky, money that coukd be spent elswhere
The North Stand seating was fine, however the concourse was soaking for about twenty yards upto the wall. So anybody wanting a pint or a wee would have to walk 'under the stands' I suspect if you were having a drink before the match in the concourse, you stand a chance of getting rained on.
I know somebody who believes saints can do no wrong will say, 'well don't go for a pint then'
My tour was at 19:30 and we were given a welcome chat by Mr Big in front of a large picture of KC. The original pictures of Kevin Ward, Voll and Coslett had been added to and as we walked round we saw Huddart, Karalius, Long, Newlove and Sculthorpe. The pictures are fantastic and certainly add to the ambience of the concourse. Mr Big also alluded to the addition of the original 17 legends with Eric Chisnall, Harry Pinner and Steve Prescott taking the total to 20. He also said he hoped that eventually up to 42 pictures would be displayed.
The concourse would look great but my concern would be at the away end - would they be vandalised. The pictures at this end could be St Helens born players who have given great service to RL, an example being Eric Ashton. What say you?
So what we have so far is something like this:
Post 1095 - tour guide says north stand will not be cladded, only the ends will be
Post 1110 - tour guide (3pm) says north stand will be cladded, but centre section only at later date (note - even though the centre section is already completely cladded)
Post 1111 - tour guide (6pm) says east stand will be the only part that wasn't going to be cladded.
So, we have 3 tour guides giving 3 entirely different stories!!!! We can hardly debate the issue if we don't know what we're debating.
In other words, the guides know as much as us.
I thought Mike Appleton made an announcement on the Club's site back at the time that the remainder would be cladded because of the number of questions raised, once the planning permission had been granted. Of course it could have changed again since then.
I had a text from our friend that also suggested that he had been told this in a conversation with the chairman.
I know people are going to slate me for being disappointed with this whole deal but that isn't going to change my opinion.
The fact is that none of the original design drawings that were made public showed the outside of the ground looking like a half finished job. The only outside views showed super-dooper fully cladded exteriors. So whether it was designed to fully-clad or not, in my opinion, the information released was misleading. Whether that was deliberately planned or not, I'm not able to say. What I can say is that we were rushed into picking North Stand season tickets on the basis that all the best seats would be gone if we didn't hurry up but no-one had the decency to tell us that the North Stand would end up a vastly inferior product than the South Stand despite being the same price.
At the end of the day, if someone promises you £20,000 and you get £15,000 then you are disappointed. If they promise you £10,000 and you get £10,000 then you are happier. The end amount may be less but what you never expected to get doesn't hurt you when it doesn't eventually arrive.
If Saints had come out in the first place and been honest; if they had shown us elevations showing three stands with no cladding then it would have been accepted and we'd have simply been happy with having a new ground. It's the kind of amateurish, bumbling PR disaster that this club has almost copyrighted over the years.
If you don't want people to be disappointed with the end product then don't tell them you are going to give them a full dinner suit then only give them the shirt and trousers.
THIS YEAR LENDING SUPPORT TO:- St. Helens RLFC, Manchester City, Celtic, Alemannia Aachen, Steps 1 to 6 Non-League Football
If you are that disappointed then why not take it up with the club? There may be a mutual solution you can come to?
Having already been in my seat in the North Stand the lack of cladding doesn't make a difference as the the depth of the stand is huge and is split with the raised platform behind the stand and the large concourse. The concourse is absolutely huge so I doubt you'll get rained on unless you're nearer the turnstiles part of the concourse.
But, I find it really strange that they're only cladding the two ends. It'll look strange and it is a bit unfair on those in the North Stand that they won't be fully protected from the elements like the rest of the ground. It also looks unfinished from the outside. Unless it's for financial reasons, I find this decision extremely bizarre.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
THIS YEAR LENDING SUPPORT TO:- St. Helens RLFC, Manchester City, Celtic, Alemannia Aachen, Steps 1 to 6 Non-League Football
So long as the rain is kept away from the concourses - the corners were a real wet mess on the night of the open training session - I don't care anymore about the cladding. I am using the stadium as part of my 'training' (ha!) for the 10k run and each time I go up there I am reminded of what a fantastic place it is. Not just the building itself but the surroundings. It's superb.
Tbh I'd be more worried being sat on front row or even first few. After the training session some of the front looked soaked. Half way up the away end was soaked which in all honesty made me smile. How ever the rain can be driven in any direction
Back to the point though, when given pictures and plans etc of what we will expect I expect it to be similar. Abit like the bridge maybe. Not quite the artists impression but structurally probably as close as possible.
However the north stand issue and the ticket advertising marketing early doors has led many to buy seat where now in hindsight may not have done and the last stand to sell is probably the best stand to be in possibly.
I'd say it's good marketing and others would say they were misled.
Glad I went wide to west.
Nobody said life would be easy
I agree entirely with the comments from DD and Blobby.
If it is true that the North Stand will remain uncladded I will be very disappointed.
As someone who bought a five-year ticket for the NS as soon as they went on sale I feel cheated and short-changed compared to my fully-cladded colleagues in the South Stand.
If the NS concourse is open to the elements, I'll think twice about having a pint there (in winter at least) and will probably restrict my pre-match refreshments to the pub.
During windy / rainy weather I would think that a wet concourse would cause significant H&S problems.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy".
General Helmuth von Moltke
I posted what seems like months ago now that looking at it from Peasley Cross, which as i said is the first impession people get, it does not look good and if that isn,t soiling the ship for a ha,porth of tar i do not know what is.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robhugh...7628884189367/
Few pictures from the founding members tour
And to add to the Cladding Gate, on the 6pm tour the fella was saying the west would be done......and should have started last week. The north has been postponed due to finance. I think as soon as that is in place it will be carried out. I can understand them starting in the west as it would join with the original cladding. There is no plan to afford the east yet from my understanding.....let the away fans suffer the longest im guessing.
Anyway enjoy the pictures.
Then I suggest you look at the first page of this thread, post 4. Between 7.15 and 7.27 of the middle video you'll see the 'futuristic brickwork'. No matter how you want to describe that red bricked area in the CENTRE of the north stand, it is a form of cladding (ie enclosing the outer expanse of wall), and if present along the whole of the east, west and north stands it would keep us ALL DRY!!!!!!!!