New Stand: Ongoing work (updated)

[Section Q]

12 hours ago, portobellojambo1 said:

I'm finding it difficult to understand why people are so keen on the capacity of the ground being increased yet again, when it was increased following the rebuild of the new main stand and we still haven't achieved a full house sell out since then. Yes, there were 30,000 tickets sold for the game at Murrayfield, but as yet I'm not convinced they were all HMFC fans, nor am I convinced even half of that additional number would ever turn up for any never mind every home game.

 

If there were an extra 4,000 seats available over the new existing capacity the hope would be to try and reach that number, potentially meaning that for fixtures versus the OF they would each get around 8,000 tickets.

 

Why don't we just make best use of what we have at the moment and hope that we can attract crowds of between 18,000-20,000 each home game.

This. Happy with the size of the stadium now. If we can feasibly fill in the corners one day then great. 

[luckydug]

12 hours ago, portobellojambo1 said:

I'm finding it difficult to understand why people are so keen on the capacity of the ground being increased yet again, when it was increased following the rebuild of the new main stand and we still haven't achieved a full house sell out since then. Yes, there were 30,000 tickets sold for the game at Murrayfield, but as yet I'm not convinced they were all HMFC fans, nor am I convinced even half of that additional number would ever turn up for any never mind every home game.

 

If there were an extra 4,000 seats available over the new existing capacity the hope would be to try and reach that number, potentially meaning that for fixtures versus the OF they would each get around 8,000 tickets.

 

Why don't we just make best use of what we have at the moment and hope that we can attract crowds of between 18,000-20,000 each home game.

I think people have an inflated expectation of our support base.

Sure if we were challenging for the league consistently we probably could sell out most weeks and on special occasions 30 or 40k will attend Murrayfield or Hampden.

I believe that Hearts ,Hibs and Aberdeen do very well to achieve the attendances that they do considering that there is next to no chance of any of them winning the league at present.

In fact take out the OF and Hibs games and our present day attendances are among the best since the post war boom days.

It's rather strange people criticising a 16k attendance when in the good old days of the 'shed' 7k was normal.

[Hearts_fan]

10 hours ago, davemclaren said:

The reality is that ww have built a new stand and our capacity is now greater than it has been for 24 years.  We won’t be increasing it by much anytime soon.  

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

[sairyinthat]

6 minutes ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

Nor is a bigger stadium needed said it before we already have the extra seating there some 3000 seat in the School end we can commandeer.

[Selkirkhmfc1874]

18 minutes ago, sairyinthat said:

Nor is a bigger stadium needed said it before we already have the extra seating there some 3000 seat in the School end we can commandeer.

Exactly ! If and when we get to stage where hearts supporters sell out Tynecastle away allocations can be cut 

[davemclaren]

55 minutes ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

Nothing at all. 

[Hearts_fan]

Some people just aren't for discussing hypothetical ideas. Fair enough. 

 

But why try to control what others wish to talk about?

[Hearts_fan]

1 minute ago, davemclaren said:

Nothing at all. 

 

I probably responded to the wrong comment when I quoted you. Your comment was completely reasonable! 

 

It was directed at those attempting to shut down the conversation about future ideas. 

[EIEIO]

1 hour ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

I've no problem with people discussing their ideas or fantasies about future possible redevelopment of Tynecastle , I actually quite enjoy reading them.

I would prefer that they were on a separate thread rather than one discussing the finishing touches to our latest stand though.

[Hearts_fan]

15 minutes ago, EIEIO said:

I've no problem with people discussing their ideas or fantasies about future possible redevelopment of Tynecastle , I actually quite enjoy reading them.

I would prefer that they were on a separate thread rather than one discussing the finishing touches to our latest stand though.

 

You're not stuck in traffic mate, you are traffic.

[A_A wehatethehibs]

Id think the next move for the stadium when that time comes will be a total rebuild/remodel of Gorgie, Wheatfield and Roseburn stands, maybe one big wrap around stand with the truss based roof totally removed and rebuilt, with a new structure, corners filled and a second tier behind the current wheatfield. Would think we would have scope to extend capacity somewhere beyond 25,000 doing something like that. It would look a bit like Cardiff or Elland Road.

 

Thankfully for the here and now capacity, attendences and match day revenue are all at 30 year highs so it’s onwards and upwards at Hearts. 

[portobellojambo1]

1 hour ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

 

When I responded earlier I had only gone back a couple of pages to get an idea of how this thread was progressing. In terms of the title of the thread the conclusion I had reached was that people were actually looking for us to actually think about increasing the size of the ground almost immediately, even before the existing work to be done has even reached completion. I didn't realise when I posted that people were thinking many years in advance and what might happen if the population of Edinburgh continues to increase, i.e. will a reasonably large proportion of new inhabitants in the city want to go watch HMFC

 

If we are looking to get more HMFC fans into the ground relatively quickly, i.e. the next 2-3 years for example, then all that needs to happen is additional fans make it clear that they want to take up seats in the Roseburn, and create a situation whereby the club then have to reduce the allocation given to those visiting clubs who take up the bigger allocations presently offered, i.e. Rangers, Celtic and Hibs. But outwith those three teams there are relatively few seats ever occupied by HMFC fans in that stand for home games. So if you look at it logically there is no great desire by thousands of additional fans to turn up and watch HMFC at the moment. Is it worth using up money to increase the size of the ground capacity short term in the hope thousands will show an interest many years down the line, I'd think that is a separate issue.

[EIEIO]

10 minutes ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

You're not stuck in traffic mate, you are traffic.

If that's an insult mate it's lost on me. 

[Hearts_fan]

5 minutes ago, portobellojambo1 said:

 

When I responded earlier I had only gone back a couple of pages to get an idea of how this thread was progressing. In terms of the title of the thread the conclusion I had reached was that people were actually looking for us to actually think about increasing the size of the ground almost immediately, even before the existing work to be done has even reached completion. I didn't realise when I posted that people were thinking many years in advance and what might happen if the population of Edinburgh continues to increase, i.e. will a reasonably large proportion of new inhabitants in the city want to go watch HMFC

 

If we are looking to get more HMFC fans into the ground relatively quickly, i.e. the next 2-3 years for example, then all that needs to happen is additional fans make it clear that they want to take up seats in the Roseburn, and create a situation whereby the club then have to reduce the allocation given to those visiting clubs who take up the bigger allocations presently offered, i.e. Rangers, Celtic and Hibs. But outwith those three teams there are relatively few seats ever occupied by HMFC fans in that stand for home games. So if you look at it logically there is no great desire by thousands of additional fans to turn up and watch HMFC at the moment. Is it worth using up money to increase the size of the ground capacity short term in the hope thousands will show an interest many years down the line, I'd think that is a separate issue.

 

All spot on. 

[johnking123]

7 minutes ago, portobellojambo1 said:

 

When I responded earlier I had only gone back a couple of pages to get an idea of how this thread was progressing. In terms of the title of the thread the conclusion I had reached was that people were actually looking for us to actually think about increasing the size of the ground almost immediately, even before the existing work to be done has even reached completion. I didn't realise when I posted that people were thinking many years in advance and what might happen if the population of Edinburgh continues to increase, i.e. will a reasonably large proportion of new inhabitants in the city want to go watch HMFC

 

If we are looking to get more HMFC fans into the ground relatively quickly, i.e. the next 2-3 years for example, then all that needs to happen is additional fans make it clear that they want to take up seats in the Roseburn, and create a situation whereby the club then have to reduce the allocation given to those visiting clubs who take up the bigger allocations presently offered, i.e. Rangers, Celtic and Hibs. But outwith those three teams there are relatively few seats ever occupied by HMFC fans in that stand for home games. So if you look at it logically there is no great desire by thousands of additional fans to turn up and watch HMFC at the moment. Is it worth using up money to increase the size of the ground capacity short term in the hope thousands will show an interest many years down the line, I'd think that is a separate issue.

Is it worthwhile increasing the ground just now. That's a big no just now. But purchasing land around the stadium would be smart move in the next few years.

[portobellojambo1]

2 minutes ago, johnking123 said:

Is it worthwhile increasing the ground just now. That's a big no just now. But purchasing land around the stadium would be smart move in the next few years.

 

I think the amount of available land around the ground is probably very, very limited unfortunately. A time may well come in the future where the only route available to HMFC, in terms of growing the size of the stadium, may well involve moving away from Gorgie

[Hearts_fan]

33 minutes ago, EIEIO said:

I've no problem with people discussing their ideas or fantasies about future possible redevelopment of Tynecastle , I actually quite enjoy reading them.

I would prefer that they were on a separate thread rather than one discussing the finishing touches to our latest stand though.

 

17 minutes ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

You're not stuck in traffic mate, you are traffic.

 

6 minutes ago, EIEIO said:

If that's an insult mate it's lost on me. 

 

Not an insult, I was just pointing out that by objecting to other people's ideas on the basis that they were unrelated to – in your words – "the finishing touches to our latest stand", you were inadvertently doing exactly that which you were criticising – that is de-railing the discussion.

 

Similar to the driver of a car complaining about other cars in a traffic jam. 

[davemclaren]

Just now, portobellojambo1 said:

 

I think the amount of available land around the ground is probably very, very limited unfortunately. A time may well come in the future where the only route available to HMFC, in terms of growing the size of the stadium, may well involve moving away from Gorgie

Indeed. There are potential plots around the stadium but would need the distillery to either downsize, re-locate or close. Hearts need to be aware of any such changes and, hopefully, be capable of taking advantage. 

[Hearts_fan]

7 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Indeed. There are potential plots around the stadium but would need the distillery to either downsize, re-locate or close. Hearts need to be aware of any such changes and, hopefully, be capable of taking advantage. 

 

I think this is one of the key points for me – and why I personally like talking about future ideas for the stadium – Hearts have to begin preparing for the future now, not simply react 10 years later when suddenly the opportunity is there and no thought or preparation has been made. 

 

However, I'm not under any illusions that a thread on kickback determines policy inside Tynecastle, but it is interesting nonetheless.

 

And as an FoH member, I like the idea of FoH revenues being invested for future infrastructure developments. 

[DH1986]

Discussing the increase of our capacity when we can barely sell what we’ve got.....

 

?

[wavydavy]

2 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Indeed. There are potential plots around the stadium but would need the distillery to either downsize, re-locate or close. Hearts need to be aware of any such changes and, hopefully, be capable of taking advantage. 

 

One area that is an issue is the lack of parking in the area. I paid a viist to the club shop the other day to pick up some stuff I had ordered online and I was struggling to find anywhere to park reasonably close to the ground.

 

I know that is a general issue throughout Edinburgh however other than on matchdays I am sure many will be put off visiting the shop if they are planning to go by car.

 

Not a priority by any means but just making a point.

[wavydavy]

2 hours ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

I think this is one of the key points for me – and why I personally like talking about future ideas for the stadium – Hearts have to begin preparing for the future now, not simply react 10 years later when suddenly the opportunity is there and no thought or preparation has been made. 

 

However, I'm not under any illusions that a thread on kickback determines policy inside Tynecastle, but it is interesting nonetheless.

 

And as an FoH member, I like the idea of FoH revenues being invested for future infrastructure developments. 

 

Good points. No harm in making your thoughts known. I am sure there are many good ideas floating around on here that the club could do well to consider.

[Hearts_fan]

A couple of family members were at a birthday party in the New Main Stand recently. Neither are in any way into football, in fact they think football is ridiculous, but they were very impressed with the standard of both the stand and the catering/bar. They said the bar must have been absolutely raking it in.

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Hearts_fan

[davemclaren]

2 hours ago, wavydavy said:

 

One area that is an issue is the lack of parking in the area. I paid a viist to the club shop the other day to pick up some stuff I had ordered online and I was struggling to find anywhere to park reasonably close to the ground.

 

I know that is a general issue throughout Edinburgh however other than on matchdays I am sure many will be put off visiting the shop if they are planning to go by car.

 

Not a priority by any means but just making a point.

They used to let you park at the back of the Wheatfield a few years back. 

[Mikey1874]

7 hours ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

True. But again, what's the harm in talking about ideas?

 

Yeah, agree

 

Why not

 

 

[Kiwidoug]

8 hours ago, portobellojambo1 said:

 

I think the amount of available land around the ground is probably very, very limited unfortunately. A time may well come in the future where the only route available to HMFC, in terms of growing the size of the stadium, may well involve moving away from Gorgie

If things go really well on the park and there's huge demand, do you know if there is the ability to add additional tiers to the existing stands?

 

May not look the best but if we could say add tiers at either end of the ground, that would push us towards 30,000.

[Dunks]

10 hours ago, wavydavy said:

 

One area that is an issue is the lack of parking in the area. I paid a viist to the club shop the other day to pick up some stuff I had ordered online and I was struggling to find anywhere to park reasonably close to the ground.

 

I know that is a general issue throughout Edinburgh however other than on matchdays I am sure many will be put off visiting the shop if they are planning to go by car.

 

Not a priority by any means but just making a point.

 

The Club announced recently that they had a plan for parking, but there hasn't been any details I'm aware of. When the old school was still a school, it also hosted match-day parking. The old yard at the corner of the Gorgie/Wheatfield provides staff parking too, which should increase once the temporary nursery is removed.

[FarmerTweedy]

13 hours ago, Hearts_fan said:

 

I think this is one of the key points for me – and why I personally like talking about future ideas for the stadium – Hearts have to begin preparing for the future now, not simply react 10 years later when suddenly the opportunity is there and no thought or preparation has been made.

 

However, I'm not under any illusions that a thread on kickback determines policy inside Tynecastle, but it is interesting nonetheless.

 

And as an FoH member, I like the idea of FoH revenues being invested for future infrastructure developments. 

I think you make a very good point here and the story of our new main stand actually illustrates why it's important. There have been some issues with the design, planning, and cost projections for the new stand, which all seem to have stemmed from a decision being made by the council to replace the old nursery basically forcing the club to plan and build a new stand, incorporating the new nursery, at very short notice, or face being severely limited in what we could do in the future by the presence of a new nursery building right where we would have wanted to build ourselves.

 

I think it's pretty clear that if the nursery issue hadn't been there, the club would have taken considerably more time to act, quite probably waiting until FoH were in control, and taking more time to consider different options for the design and funding.

 

I certainly don't think the club should be looking to actually do anything for several years at least, but I do think it would be sensible for the club to at least look at what options might be sensible in the future if demand starts to consistently outstrip supply in the years to come. For instance, if it was determined that any expansion plan would require some of the land that the old school sits on, and NBD decided to put the school site up for sale, it would be important for the club to be in a position to be able to immediately move to try to secure the purchase of however much of the site we would need. That would be more difficult if the club hadn't given any thought to the whole idea prior to the site becoming available. 

[davemclaren]

1 hour ago, farin said:

Nice image this. 

 

Very nice shot. 

[mitch41]

On 23/11/2018 at 15:33, DH1986 said:

Discussing the increase of our capacity when we can barely sell what we’ve got.....

 

?

True. There are ways to sell out every game but i don't think it's a priority because the product on the pitch isn't good enough.

[J.T.F.Robertson]

4 hours ago, farin said:

Nice image this. 

 

 

Much more than nice. Crackin' shot! 

You intentionally left out the McLeod Street, bulging tenement though. 

 

[JohnB]

3 hours ago, J.T.F.Robertson said:

 

Much more than nice. Crackin' shot! 

You intentionally left out the McLeod Street, bulging tenement though. 

 

Only thing missing - TREES. This must be about the time to plant them. Will we have another fir tree near the nursery?

[Bull's-eye]

8 hours ago, farin said:

Nice image this. 

 

 

Office block

[davemclaren]

7 hours ago, mitch41 said:

True. There are ways to sell out every game but i don't think it's a priority because the product on the pitch isn't good enough.

Eh?

[ericb]

10 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Very nice shot. 

I know the whole story of why the nursery is there, but how good would it look if it wasn't there, an increased plaza plus additional bar/hospitality space.

[Francis Albert]

4 hours ago, Oliver Twist said:

 

Office block

Now that I land my helicopter on the Plaza I recognise the new stand doesn't look like an office block from the air.

Just as it never did from inside the ground.

[campbell]

13 hours ago, farin said:

Nice image this. 

 

Does anyone know if roof above the “restaurant” could be used as a outside area? I’m sure it’s been discussed before but I can’t remeber what was said 

[obua]

47 minutes ago, campbell said:

Does anyone know if roof above the “restaurant” could be used as a outside area? I’m sure it’s been discussed before but I can’t remeber what was said 

As it stands it’s a rubberised type membrane which can be easily punctured.Im sure in the future it could be upgraded if it was decided to use it for outside space,also suitable access and safety rails etc would be required.All possible if money is available.

[i8hibsh]

5 hours ago, Oliver Twist said:

 

Office block

 

 

Meanwhile doon Lochend they think this is nicer.

 

 

[davemclaren]

2 hours ago, ericb said:

I know the whole story of why the nursery is there, but how good would it look if it wasn't there, an increased plaza plus additional bar/hospitality space.

I think we have sufficient space but the nursey had been there for a long long time so we had to accommodate it. 

[Seymour M Hersh]

19 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

I think we have sufficient space but the nursey had been there for a long long time so we had to accommodate it. 

 

True but as another poster mentioned looking to prepare for extending or whatever in the future is wise and what would have been ideal (but I suspect timing was shot for it to happen) would have been for Hearts to buy the building that is now the Prison Officers Club and situate the nursery there. 

[Thomaso]

38 minutes ago, obua said:

As it stands it’s a rubberised type membrane which can be easily punctured.Im sure in the future it could be upgraded if it was decided to use it for outside space,also suitable access and safety rails etc would be required.All possible if money is available.

 

I haven't been up there for a while, but the plan was to lay decking over the membrane roof to the area in front of the 'Skyline' glazed screen.  Access out to this area was from glazed doors.

[davemclaren]

Just now, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

True but as another poster mentioned looking to prepare for extending or whatever in the future is wise and what would have been ideal (but I suspect timing was shot for it to happen) would have been for Hearts to buy the building that is now the Prison Officers Club and situate the nursery there. 

Possibly, but time was critical as the nursery were about to redevelop the site themselves which would likely block any main stand development. I think it’s fine to have a community use around the stsdium. 

[Thomaso]

2 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

True but as another poster mentioned looking to prepare for extending or whatever in the future is wise and what would have been ideal (but I suspect timing was shot for it to happen) would have been for Hearts to buy the building that is now the Prison Officers Club and situate the nursery there. 

 

Seemingly some parents were playing hardball and demanded the nursery was on the same location.

[Thomaso]

Just now, davemclaren said:

Possibly, but time was critical as the nursery were about to redevelop the site themselves which would likely block any main stand development. I think it’s fine to have a community use around the stsdium. 

 

We had more than enough space to accommodate the nursery in the stand. The stand complex is massive with a huge amount of space for corporate lounges and other uses, without the cost of buying another building.

[obua]

3 minutes ago, Thomaso said:

 

I haven't been up there for a while, but the plan was to lay decking over the membrane roof to the area in front of the 'Skyline' glazed screen.  Access out to this area was from glazed doors.

Correct,I was commenting on the question about the skyline roof.

[Mysterion]

45 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

 

 

Meanwhile doon Lochend they think this is nicer.

 

wonder how many threads they have on filling in the  corners.

[i8hibsh]

1 minute ago, Mysterion said:

 

wonder how many threads they have on filling in the  corners.

 

They would have a job as their stands are more misplaced than one of Arnaud Djoum's forward passes.

[Thomaso]

13 minutes ago, obua said:

Correct,I was commenting on the question about the skyline roof.

 

Yes I know you were mate.

[Thomaso]

50 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

 

 

Meanwhile doon Lochend they think this is nicer.

 

 

 

And they say Tynecastle is crammed in! Look at he state of those end stands with bits chopped off to squeeze in the line of the streets.  And as for their main stand.......