The
New
Goodison
Park
The
Case
For
A
New
Stadium
King’s Dock Proposal
Phase
Two
Revealed
Everton's
bid under title of Houston Securities Accepted as the preferred bidder
The
Everton bid for the Kings Dock site site is impressive. Very
professionally presented including a scale model; only 3 of the 5 bids for the
No. 1 world heritage site to have a scale model. The core of the
proposal is a 55,000 all-seater arena with: retractable roof, retractable
pitch, three tiered design of function rooms and restaurants. The arena converts into a 20,000 seater multi-purpose arena via a moveable
section of the seating behind one goal. The bank of seats moves into the
centre of the pitch for concert viewing. Many retail outlets around the
ground with a total investment of £250 million. A thousand people
are catered for in restaurant facilities.
Worldwide, the city of
Liverpool is synonymous with music. This proposal would at last give the
city a venue to stage large music concerts, right in its centre, which
currently are staged elsewhere.
Key:
| Hotel |
|
| Leisure |
|
| Commercial |
|
| Retail |
|
The
location of the arena is the large area directly to the south of the Albert
Dock.
The arena will front the river directly becoming a part of the third most
recognisable waterfront in the world. Within easy walking distance of the city center, train and
bus stations and the Mersey ferry, the arena is ideally located.
The
arena is within walking distance of four rail stations. Parliament
Street underground station, which was abandoned in the 1920s, is still intact
complete with platforms for re-commission if necessary. The Waterloo
tunnel, running from Edge Hill to the Pier Head is available ready to be
brought back into commission. No other location,
outside London, can boast such access to local and main line rail links.
There is even an adjacent ferry terminal serving the Wirral and Isle of Man.
The
Dock Road filters traffic directly north and south away from the arena and city
centre, with Parliament Street, the green road on the map running east,
filtering
traffic to the M62 motorway
EVERTON today, 17th January
2001, formally lodged their Phase Two stadium submission for the Kings Dock
and described it as a lifetime's opportunity for the club and the city of
Liverpool.
English partnerships - in
consultation with Liverpool Vision, Liverpool City Council and the North West
Development Agency - will begin to analyse the details of all seven Dock
proposals on Monday, a day that also marks the start of the public
consultation process.
Everton are delighted with their
final blueprint which has been masterminded by one of the world's leading
architect teams, HOK, along with Project Co-ordinator Steve Lavell. They
believe they have achieved their stated aims of producing a Stadium/Arena
surrounded by a vibrant leisure village that will be used 365 days a year.
Everton revealed three months ago
that their plan included a high quality hotel, a major cinema complex and a
Family Entertainment Centre, as well as waterfront residences, bars, restaurants
and specialist retail outlets. Today the club refused to expand on the fine
details of their final submission because English Partnerships want to unveil
all the bids in tandem on Monday. But majority shareholder Bill Kenwright
was prepared to express his delight at his club's proposals, which he described
as "sensational".
Kenwright said today:
"We have despatched our Phase Two plans. English Partnerships plan to
unveil all the submissions on Monday. The Everton way is to honour our
colleagues and we look forward to their presentations. "In the meantime, we
can only assure Evertonians and the people of Liverpool that they will find our
whole vision for the site sensational. "We are not just talking about
another football stadium, but one of the finest soccer venues in the world,
alongside a world class arena and entertainment complex. This
is a once in a lifetime's opportunity for everyone involved, for the city and
the North West."
Kenwright understands the crucial
importance of producing the right plan for what is partly a world heritage site.
He said: "If we were to be successful, this would provide yet another
magnificent landmark for Liverpool's famous riverside. "Our scheme's
developments over the past few months to what will be presented on Monday has
been little short of phenomenal. I can't speak too highly of what our
international team has achieved thus far. "They have worked night and
day and have done a fantastic job for us."
© Liverpool Daily Post &
Echo
King’s Dock Proposal
Revealed
An
Early Artists
Impression of the Kings Dock Proposal
Today, 20th
October 2000, Everton announced details of their proposal to win the Kings Dock
site.
Plans include:
·
50,000-seater arena/stadium
·
'Roll-out' pitch
·
'Leisure village'
EVERTON Football Club today
shared their vision for the future with their fans.
The Blues revealed their vision for the city centre Kings Dock site with
exciting plans for a state of the art stadium, a 20-screen cinema, a hotel and
residential and retail opportunities.
Central to the proposal is
a world class stadium with a capacity in excess of 50,000.
The design includes a closing roof and a 'roll-out' pitch, transforming
the venue into a multi-purpose facility which could stage a host of
international sporting events, concerts, conferences and exhibitions.
Everton are looking to create a vibrant 24-hour 'leisure village' with an
ambitious development around the stadium/arena.
The Goodison outfit are
fully aware of the need to ensure that this prestigious site both complements
and enhances facilities already available within the adjacent award winning
Albert Dock complex.
These could include:
·
A
20-screen cinema.
·
Family
entertainment centre.
·
Health
club.
·
Nightclub.
·
Bars
and restaurants.
·
Specialist
retail outlets.
·
A
high quality hotel.
·
200
waterfront residences.
Everton's bid has been
lodged under the banner of the Kings Waterfront Consortium Limited, although
no-one should be under any illusions about Everton's pivotal role in a project
that could change the face of Liverpool's famous river skyline forever.
Everton's vice chairman and majority shareholder Bill Kenwright said:
"The future of the Kings Dock site is obviously of huge importance to
Liverpool as a city and the North West.
Its importance to Everton Football Club is just as vital.
"First and foremost, we are looking at it as a possible new home for
our club after over 100 years of residence in one of the finest stadiums in the
world during most of that time.
"It is up to the
supporters to say if they believe the plans that surround it are as vibrant and
exciting as we do.
"Now that those plans appear to have gone to the second stage, we
will keep good our promise and make sure that the final decision on whether we
take the next and hopefully successful step is made by the fans.
It will be up to them."
Kenwright has always guaranteed the supporters a clear say in any
decision to move from the club's famous home.
He said: "Our efforts to make sure that the fans' voice is properly
heard will include a ballot at our next home game against Aston Villa, a poll in
the ECHO and an opportunity beforehand to view our current blueprint in one of
the Goodison lounges.
"Everyone has heard me
say loudly and clearly how much Goodison Park means to me and will always mean
to me, but if the time has come to move on, I strongly believe that the Kings
Dock will mean as much to Evertonians past, present and future as our wonderful
home for the last 108 years has meant to us all.
"Let me make it clear.
We have not moved yet and our bid has not even been successful yet, but
like many Evertonians I have one over-riding passion to get our club back to
where it belongs - at the summit of football.
"Maybe this could be a huge stepping stone for us on our way back to
the top."
The short-listed bidders for the Dock which includes Everton are:
1.
French consortium - Vouyguese - which built the Stad de France in Paris
and was involved in the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
2.
A newly formed consortium, including construction giant AMEC and British
Waterways.
3.
North Star Consortium, led by Fiortho the company currently building
luxury waterfront flats next to the Kings Dock site.
4.
Chester-based Leisure development specialists THI - builders of the new
multiplex at Cheshire Oaks and a number of hotels in the region.
5.
Commercial developers and homebuilders Wilson Bowden UK.
The Kings Dock is owned by
the government land-owning agency English Partnerships.
A special forum headed by English Partnerships with Liverpool City
Council, North West Development Agency and the city centre regeneration company
Liverpool Vision has drawn up the short-list.
Everton need to impress in
the weeks ahead in advance of a major consultation exercise with a public
exhibition in December prior to final submissions.
Everton will learn in January whether it has been successful.
Traffic
Target
EVERTON have confronted the
traffic issues linked with a move to the Kings Dock in their Phase One
submission to the forum team made up of English Partnerships, Liverpool City
Council, the North West Development Agency and the city centre regeneration
company Liverpool Vision.
The Merseyside club noted
that current one-off events at the Dock Venue, like the Summer Pops, already
raise traffic issues and that a visionary transport strategy will be fundamental
to the success of the project. Everton
and their partners SFX Europe have pointed out that parking design standards for
stadium/arenas can be heavily discounted for city centre sites.
They believe that the needs generated by the leisure village and
stadium/arena will be met by parking beneath the development.
Plans are still emerging but one projection is that a single level
parking facility beneath the stadium/arena, plus the leisure village could
accommodate up to 2,000 spaces. In
addition, when the stadium is in use, the pitch "parking" area could
take an extra 400 cars or 150 coaches.
The pitch will roll outside
the stadium on none match days. The
underground siting of the parking areas enables sensitive landscaping and also
deals with the exposed nature of the site.
There would be underground access to all areas of the site, including the
hotel and stadium/arena.
Designs
on the best
EVERTON'S design architects
are HOK Sport who operate the world's biggest architecture practice out of
offices in London, Kansas City and Brisbane.
HOK's specialty is the design of sports, leisure and entertainment
venues. Their European sports
projects include the English National Stadium at Wembley, the Millennium Stadium
at Cardiff Arms Park and the Commonwealth Stadium in Manchester. Worldwide, HOK Sport designed Stadium Australia in Sydney,
the magnificent Olympic venue. Other
projects include the United Centre in Chicago.
Link to
HOKs Stadium Designs
HOK Sport will dovetail with Ellis Williams
Architects, based in Warrington. Their
expertise is in securing the appropriate funding and dealing with sensitive
sites. Ellis Williams worked on the
redesign of Liverpool's Empire Theatre and Merseyside's Cheshire Oaks retail
development. The Kings Dock brings
with it unique challenges for all concerned, not least the traffic and parking
considerations.
The third element to the design team will be
provided by Thorburn Colquhoun, structural and highway engineers whose stadium
and arena expertise began with the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in 1979.
Since then, they have been involved in over 30 stadia and arena projects
including those at Murrayfield, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Leicester,
Middlesbrough, Hampden Park, the Manchester G-Mex, the Scottish Exhibition
Centre and the new London Excel Exhibition Centre.
Kings
of Rock and Roll Will Shoot Dock Onto World Stage
EVERTON are supported in their Kings Dock bid
by SFX, one of the world's leading entertainment organisations. Bill Kenwright achieved this through his association with
co-Everton director Paul Gregg who is chairman of SFX Europe.
They are one of the most powerful players in the world of arena
entertainment. SFX have contracts
for staging the kind of arena events that would light up the Kings Dock as a
major attraction. SFX produced and
promoted music events, theatrical shows and specialised sports and motor shows
last year that attracted in the region of 75 million people.
They believe the arena side of this
development could attract some of the greatest artists in the world. Twelve of the last 17 concerts at Wembley Stadium have been
promoted by the SFX family. Up to
75 per cent of the worlds major rock acts are linked, in some way, to SFX.
Live audience in 1999 was well in excess of 75 million.
Paul Gregg believes there can be a real synergy between Everton FC, SFX,
the City Council, English Partnerships and Liverpool Vision which will benefit
all concerned.
© Liverpool Daily Post & Echo
According to HOK the stadia consultants, the
new stadium will be along the lines of the Colonial stadium in Melbourne, which
features a retractable roof opening or closing within 8 minutes. Initial
proposals for Kings Dock are a pitch 40 foot above ground level utilising the space beneath for
car parking and other attractions.
Link to
The Colonial Stadium Melbourne
King’s Dock Proposal
Submitted
EVERTON
Football Club today, 6th October 2000, has taken a massive step
forward in the search for a new site by lodging an official bid for the city
centre Kings Dock venue.
The
Blues want to build a 55,000 plus state of the art super stadium on the banks of
the River Mersey with a retractable roof, enabling it to be used as a
multi-purpose Arena facility.
However, the Blues made two
clear pledges to their supporters.
1.
They would own and run the stadium, which would be an unmatchable soccer
venue.
2.
No move from Goodison Park will be rubber stamped without a clear mandate
from the fans.
Ironically, Everton
chairman Sir Philip Carter was a driving force in the original plans to
redevelop the Kings Dock as long ago as 1988 when he was chairman of the
Merseyside Development Corporation. He
said: "The importance of the site is paramount to the city.
To have this proposal for a new multi-purpose stadium is tremendously
important. "It will bring
further regeneration to a vitally important area.
Everton's plan, if it comes off, can only be good for the city. Not many football clubs would have a stadium on part of a
proposed World Heritage Site. We
won't go to the next stage without speaking to our fans, However, the sheer
quality of the development will be so visually significant that it should excite
everybody connected with the club, and indeed, the whole city.
" The Kings Dock site
has the River Mersey to the west, the Albert Dock to the north, Wapping Dock to
the east and the recently built Customs and Excise Building to the south.
It covers an area of over 36 acres.
Kings
Waterfront also lies within an area outlined for Objective One
status, which means that grant assistance may be available for qualifying uses
proposed on the site which is in the freehold ownership of English Partnerships.
A development brief has been circulating and there is certain to be
local, national and international interest in the Kings Dock as waterside
venues become highly desirable to developers.
Originally, majority
shareholder Bill Kenwright had promised that no decision to leave Goodison Park
would be would be taken without the fans. Kenwright
will be as good as his word. The
supporters will still have the final say, but Everton are well aware that
competition for the dock area will be fierce.
The club has had no choice
but to progress to this stage, ensuring they meet all the criteria being laid
down by Liverpool City Council, English Partnerships and the North West
Development agency which forms Liverpool Vision.
These are the bodies jointly responsible for overseeing the continued
regeneration of the waterfront. This
first stage involves a clear statement of intent from all the interested parties
before the impending deadline, leading to a tense elimination process.
Everton believe that their dramatic plans for a new stadium/arena
facility will change the face of the Liverpool waterfront forever.
They will be supported in
their ambitious proposal by Europe SFX, one of the world s leading entertainment
organisations. SFX produced and
promoted music events, theatrical shows and specialised sports and motor shows
last year that attracted in the region of 75 million people.
They have a powerful link with Everton.
Chairman of SFX Europe, Paul Gregg, is also one of Everton's newest
directors, appointed when new owner Kenwright secured control of the club.
Both men clearly have a
powerful vision for Everton and the new stadium site, but it is the football
side that is dominating their thoughts. Kenwright
said: "It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks to get our proposal
together. Behind it is one
fundamental desire. For Everton
Football to be on a par with anything the world's top clubs can offer. Our fans matter to us and they deserve the very best.
The whole question of where
we play has been one of the uppermost thoughts in the new regime's mind which
includes Walter Smith. This plan
would genuinely give us the impetus to power forward with a major revival in the
21st Century. "However, I must
reiterate that first and foremost, what we are talking about a home for Everton
Football Club to play the kind of football that Evertonians deserve.
Goodison Park will never be
replaced in the eyes of our fans, but I am determined, if we move to a new
stadium, it's magnificence will stand proudly alongside the wonderful memories
we have of our present home."
Gregg said: "Everton
Football club wants to be the heart of the city.
The heart of the city will be on that site.
This whole development can be the most exciting thing that has happened
to Liverpool for years. We want to
build a fantastic soccer stadium. At
the same time we can bring a raft of entertainment opportunities to Merseyside
under the Everton banner. "We
could stage great football matches, top class concerts, Liverpool Philharmonic
events and many other things, persuading those people who have been drawn to
Manchester to come to Liverpool. "With
the stadium/arena facility we are planning, everything would be possible.
All of this will enable Everton to compete at a different level, taking
the Everton brand into as many countries as possible.
This is crucially important to us."
In recent years, Liverpool
has fallen behind other leading provincial cities like Manchester and Birmingham
who boast outstanding indoor and outdoor arenas.
Everton believe that their Kings Dock proposal would see their new
stadium standing comparison with some of the great inner city venues of the
world like Barcelona's Nou Camp, Real Madrid's Bernabeu, the San Siro in Milan
and the Stad de France in Paris.
Kenwright accepted the need
to move eight weeks ago when a Feasibility Study of their existing Goodison Park
ground revealed that it would be impossible to achieve the minimum requirement
of 55,000 seats without widening the existing Walton site.
Kenwright's desire to stay was clear.
He accepted the need to move. This
would mean demolishing the Gwladys Street school and hundreds of surrounding
houses. The City Council advised the Blues that it might take years
to push through complicated planning procedures and even then there might not be
a successful resolution. Kenwright
said: "Since then, while confirming to our fans that nothing would be done
without their backing, we considered and investigated at least a dozen
alternative sites.
The one that truly excites
us - and I'm sure will excite our ambitious supporters - is the Kings Dock.
It is the largest available site in the city centre.
"With the ultimate backing of our supporters, we now have the
opportunity to undertake this high profile development and ensure that Everton
Football Club has facilities second to none in this country.
The supporters have already
indicated to me that the Kings Dock is a venue they would be excited about and
that goes hand in hand with this proposal.
However, a major proviso in the proposal is that, should we be successful
in our first round bid, we will share the whole vision properly with our
supporters who will then make their minds up. We will then act accordingly."
The Blues accept that the
main drawback concerning the Kings Dock site is the traffic issue. Kenwright is insisting that the City Council and English
Partnerships must take and retain responsibility for these issues which will
have to be resolved to make the the site truly viable as a major entertainment
complex. The key partners believe
that with the assistance of European funding, the opportunity is there to put
the correct infrastructure into place.
Kenwright concluded: We are
well aware that it is a sensitive site and that many issues are still to be
resolved, but we see Everton moving forward powerfully and positively at a
magnificent waterfront stadium in the heart of the city."
© Liverpool Daily Post & Echo
Club Finally Announces To
Quit
Goodison
Park
After
over four years of speculation, fans voting by 84% to move and club indecision,
on the 20th July 2000 Everton FC announced, for the second time, that it is to
move from Goodison Park, their 4th home of 108 years.
EVERTON are to seek commercial partners to help pay
for the club's multi-million pound move from Goodison Park. Big name companies
are being sought both to help fund and move into the retail and leisure premises
at the club's new super stadium. Club officials also hope to attract major
European grants to pay for the 55,000-seat arena.
Everton last night confirmed the Blues would quit
their famous old home, as revealed exclusively by the Daily Post two weeks ago.
Owner Bill Kenwright said: "My allegiance has always been to Goodison Park
but I have to ensure that the club keeps moving forward. All the current
indications suggest that we must identify a new site that will work positively
for the club and our fans. "This is the only way we will achieve our
aims."
The club has yet to decide on a site for the
development, which is expected to top £50m. Land at Kings Dock, Gilmoss and
near the end of the M62 have all been earmarked as possible new homes. Other
undisclosed sites are also being discussed.
Sources close to Everton said money was not expected
to be a stumbling block. TV rights are likely to bring in around £30m-a-year
for the Blues under the Premier League's latest deal with broadcasters. The
possibility of selling a stake in the club to a media company also remains
viable.
The decision to consider a new stadium follows the publication of a feasibility
study into possible redevelopment of Goodison Park. Business advisers Deloitte
Touche and architects Ward and McHugh Associates looked at the best ways of
revamping the existing ground. Everton would prefer to transform the existing
stadium into a 55,000-capacity venue. Experts drew up two possible solutions but
following talks with city council chiefs and fans groups, these have been ruled
out. Each scheme would have cost more than £50m and a lengthy planning
permission procedure would have to have been followed to force either scheme
through. Gwladys Street School and scores of homes would have needed to be
demolished to make way for the new-look Goodison. New houses and a replacement
school would have had to be built at the Eileen Craven site on Walton Lane. The
council also would have had to rewrite its Local Plan, its future planning
blueprint, to accommodate the scheme, which would have included a shopping
complex and a hotel.
These obstacles have led to Everton's directors
admitting publicly for the first time that they are now seeking to construct a
new stadium elsewhere in the city.
In a statement issued last night, the club said:
"It is apparent that whilst remaining at Goodison is an option, doing so on
the existing footprint would effectively restrict the club's ability to increase
capacity beyond 45,000. In light of this information, the board of directors has
been given no alternative other than to continue pursuing the identification of
alternative sites within the city boundary which might prove more commercially
attractive and at the same time be acceptable to our supporters. The board
reiterates that no decision has yet been made and, as promised, the views of our
supporters will be canvassed before any such decision is taken."
© Liverpool Daily Post & Echo
The Fans Choose
In
May of 1997 Everton fans were presented with the opportunity to vote on whether
to move to a state-of-the-art green field site stadium or remain at the outdated
Goodison Park ground located in the rundown Walton district of Liverpool. They
overwhelmingly took the bold decision, by democratically electing by 84%, to
move. Again, in November 2000, the
fans voted for a move to King’s Dock by 87%
The
decision was more than one of merely moving for moving sake. It fundamentally
broke down to:
 |
Awaken
the sleeping giant; reinstate the club as one of England's biggest and
finest.
|
or
|
Remain
at the existing inappropriate Goodison Park and continue the decline of the
past 25 years.
|
Remaining
at the inappropriate Walton site may propel the club into an upper 1st
division/lower Premier club. The fans clearly saw this and given the chance to
influence the future direction of the club, acted in a firm positive manner.
The
majority of the fans must be applauded for their vision in assessing the pros
and cons of such an important decision and concluding correctly. Evertonians
put history, emotion and nostalgia to one side, viewed the future and influenced
direction - magnificent. This
web site supports and acclaims the decision to move by the fans and expands on
all points that indicate and justify a move.
Conflicting Emotions
The
emotions of wrenching the club and the fans from Goodison Park, their home since
1892, is overridden by the emotions of a permanent decline. Apart from a spell
in the mid 1980s, the club has been gradually declining for the past 30 years.
In the 1960s and early 1970s Everton were England's richest club. The press
nicknamed them "The Bank of England". They are far from that now. The
realisation of declining to an upper 1st
division/lower Premier club is by far the greater of the emotions. The fans have
recognised this and reacted accordingly.
Nil
Satis
Nisi
Optimum
This
decision by the club and fan's is fully in line with the club motto of
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum; Nothing But The Best Satisfies. This
is a clear indication of traditional attitudes being reinforced and continued
into the future. Everton took a brave step and moved from highly rated Anfield
(Everton hosted an international, England v Ireland while there) and created
Goodison Park in 1892. The club has never shied from major decisions to propel
advancement. New owner Bill Kenwright, on gaining control of the club, stated
that he wanted to "drag the club into the 21st
century".
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