thomond park redevelopment

[CologneMike]

Video Material Link

[CologneMike]

A Landmark in the Making...

Woodcockhill's "Golf Ball" keeps an eye on the progress of the magnificent new Thomond Park rugby stadium in Limerick City. (best viewed in full size). Look out for the three special visitors in the shot!

Photo and comment by climberhunt

Looks like the three are taking a short-cut from Corbally Baths to Barrington’s Pier!

[CologneMike]

Here is a fine close up done by derhur

[CologneMike]

See photo taken by Gerry Horan from the roof of the University of Limerick main building (9 kilometres away!).

Below a floodlight shot from around the end of December.

[Goofy]

A couple of cool arial shots courtesy of Beir Bua

[GregF]

This will be a cool addition to Limerick when finished! it looks great.

[CologneMike]

The West Stand has got it’s Arch up today. Image courtesy of beir bua.

[Goofy]

From http://standupandbuild.com/ by Shannon Images

[CologneMike]

View from Thomondgate

This image gives the residents of Mayorstone, Ballynanty Beg and Thomondgate a fair idea as to how dwarfed their neighbourhood will be by this modern day cathedral. Car parking infrastructure to follow?

Image courtesy of Paddy Whac

[vkid]

Rumour has it there's a multistory car park going on the site of the Old Hassetts bar..

[BTH]

Fantastic images - it really looks hugely impressive and very elegant. Compare and contrast with the ugly utilitarian lump thats just materialized in Donnybrook...

[Goofy]

The Shannon Images website has been updated with a new video Linky

Vkid - Any more info on the carpark? Has Hassetts been bought yet?

[PoxyShamrock]

According to The Limerick Post, Hassets has been bought to be turned into a Shopping Centre.

[CologneMike]

Thomond Park Update

Check out Paddy Whac’s (phogpix) Thomond Park Album.

Rear East Stand



Under Roof East Stand



Under Roof West Stand



Rear West Stand



Below Socks cousin was doing a bit of flying at the weekend. (munsterfans.com)

Thomond Park seems to be on Schedule for Autumn. The pitches turf has been removed. Nice contrast of stadiums with the GAA Pairc na nGael in the foreground. I wonder could Richie Bennis twist JP’s arm for an auld roof!

[Tuborg]

Thomond Park Update

Thomond Park seems to be on Schedule for Autumn. The pitches turf has been removed. Nice contrast of stadiums with the GAA Pairc na nGael in the foreground. I wonder could Richie Bennis twist JP’s arm for an auld roof!

Well he's forked out around €5M already to pay off the debt on the stadium plus he's sponsoring both the hurlers and footballers at the moment so we'd probably be taking the piss asking him to shell out again!

Seriously though, Pairc na nGael or the Gaelic Grounds (whichever you prefer) is very much the poor relation compared to the new Thomond, Im sure its casting an envious eye at those shiny new stands. Unfortunately PnaG has turned out to be a serious white elephant. Since it re-opened in 2003, it has yet to be filled to its 48,000 capacity, the nearest it got was the 2nd tipp replay last year which drew just over 30k.

The vast, windswept terracing and uncovered stand arent exactly the most pleasant places to be on a cold,wet day. This type of design certainly isnt suited to the tropical climes of Ireland. Obviously cost was a huge factor in the ommission of a roof but apparently the proximity of housing on this side of the ground and the resultant fears of overshadowing and loss of light would have meant securing planning permission would have been difficult. However this hasnt impacted on the new structures at Thomond Park. Of course many people would have you believe that the value of Munster rugby to the city results in TP receiving preferential treatment in comparison to PnaG.

Next on the agenda for the Gaelic Grounds is the introduction of floodlighting. Permission was refusedlast year but a new application is likely to be submitted in the near future. Unfortunately the prospect of the 3 open sides of Limerick GAA's HQ being roofed is pretty remote, however serious consideration should go into developing a nice stylish, cantilevered roof for the open stand. After all the view from this side of the ground is far superior due to a much steeper incline than the abomination that is the Mackey stand.

Thomond Park looks fantastic though, such a towering and elegant feature on the Limerick skyline.

[tommyt]

The answer is in your own post. Apart from Croke Park the GAA only need grounds with one covered stand and terracing, the amount of over-capacity grounds they will never fill even once a year that are on the drawing board is an astounding waste of resources, especially seeing as they are not governed by an international bodies standards re; stadium criteria. Was also interested to hear thomond mooted in the smash and grab planned to nick the 2012 euros of the Polaks and Ukrainians.

[johnglas]

Polaks? Does that equal Paddies? Language.

[GregF]

Thomond looks cool. It's flying up!

[Tuborg]

The answer is in your own post. Apart from Croke Park the GAA only need grounds with one covered stand and terracing, the amount of over-capacity grounds they will never fill even once a year that are on the drawing board is an astounding waste of resources, especially seeing as they are not governed by an international bodies standards re; stadium criteria. Was also interested to hear thomond mooted in the smash and grab planned to nick the 2012 euros of the Polaks and Ukrainians.

Well its about time the GAA started treating its spectators with a bit more respect, people are starting to get fairly sick of paying ridiculous prices to stand on a crumbling terrace with the rain pelting down. The events at Pairc Ui Chaoimh the other week only further highlighted the GAA's head in the sand approach. When are they going to realise that smaller, more user friendly stadiums are the way to go?

Theres a lot of rumours floating around about Euro 2012, but in fairness its always the same, just think back to the Athens olympics, Euro 2004 and even the Beijjing games. All of these were the subject of speculation about whether or not the facilities would be completed on time. Even if the tournamnent were to be taken off Poland & Ukraine, apparently it would then go to either Italy or Spain.

Still, it would be fantastic if we did get it. The only problem is that the new Thomond park falls around 14,000 seats short of the minimum UEFA requirement for a finals venue. This would mean that extra capacity would have to be built behind both goals. The net result being that more houses would have to be bought up at one end while the opposite end is extremely close to the road, making any expansion here pretty tricky.

[justnotbothered]

Well its about time the GAA started treating its spectators with a bit more respect, people are starting to get fairly sick of paying ridiculous prices to stand on a crumbling terrace with the rain pelting down. The events at Pairc Ui Chaoimh the other week only further highlighted the GAA's head in the sand approach. When are they going to realise that smaller, more user friendly stadiums are the way to go?

Theres a lot of rumours floating around about Euro 2012, but in fairness its always the same, just think back to the Athens olympics, Euro 2004 and even the Beijjing games. All of these were the subject of speculation about whether or not the facilities would be completed on time. Even if the tournamnent were to be taken off Poland & Ukraine, apparently it would then go to either Italy or Spain.

Still, it would be fantastic if we did get it. The only problem is that the new Thomond park falls around 14,000 seats short of the minimum UEFA requirement for a finals venue. This would mean that extra capacity would have to be built behind both goals. The net result being that more houses would have to be bought up at one end while the opposite end is extremely close to the road, making any expansion here pretty tricky.

The regeneration of Moyross should make it easy enough to incorporate the land behind Thomond into a greater Thomond Park/LIT site to be developed fully at a later stage.

With the link road opening from behind Moyross to the Coonagh roundabout (I think it's on schedule) the road beside Thomond should become far less congested, which may make it possible to develop the South Terrace slightly. Don't think we'll ever see much done with it, but if it meant bringing top level European football to Limerick, I suspect an effort would be made by Limerick City Council, the FAI and probably the IRFU. The Council are painfully aware that sport and Thomond Park are one of the few good news stories that they can use to change Limerick's image. They would love the chance to have a Euro match here.

Of course, I don't think this will happen by 2012 but down the line the option will be one worth considering.

[niall murphy]

Does anybody else agree with me that the GAA would be better off putting seating in on the terraces in the Gaelic Grounds similar to that on the open stand?

This would not cost very much but combined with a cantilevered roof on the open stand would make it a very comfortable all-seater stadium which would still cater for most munster championship matches even though the capacity would be reduced to 40k or so.

Longer term a replacement for the Mackey stand would really make it a quality ground. I cant understand the GAAs obsession with terracing when comfortable, modest sized seated grounds will attract much more people to games instead of standing getting wet on a terrace

Thomond Park looks amazing and its great to see it almost complete.

[Tuborg]

Does anybody else agree with me that the GAA would be better off putting seating in on the terraces in the Gaelic Grounds similar to that on the open stand?

This would not cost very much but combined with a cantilevered roof on the open stand would make it a very comfortable all-seater stadium which would still cater for most munster championship matches even though the capacity would be reduced to 40k or so.

Longer term a replacement for the Mackey stand would really make it a quality ground. I cant understand the GAAs obsession with terracing when comfortable, modest sized seated grounds will attract much more people to games instead of standing getting wet on a terrace

Thomond Park looks amazing and its great to see it almost complete.

The ideal scenario for the Gaelic Grounds would be to roof the three open sides but thats probably being way too ambitious. Although now that Croke Park is completed I think the GAA should be making money available to the major provincial grounds for gradual improvements to facilities.

The reality is that Munster championship attendances have declined hugely in the last decade, mainly due to the fact that the knockout format is gone and every team gets a second chance if they are beaten. Nowadays only the Munster final is guaranteed a gate of over 40k. The result is that we are left with a number of grounds with capacities much larger than required.

There probably would be outrage if standing space was removed from the GGs, however I think it would be a logical move. As a compromise a dedicated standing area could be retained while the majority of the terrace would be converted to all seater. Indeed this approach is used in many grounds in the German Bundesliga. In fairness to the new sections of the GGs, the sightlines are excellent so a conversion to seated accomodation wouldnt cause any problems in terms of the ability to view a match properly.

As for the Mackey "Stand", it really cant be replaced quick enough, its so bad it actually has to be seen to be believed!:o Due to the re-alignment of the pitch, the stand is now even further away from the action. This combined with the purchase of the ESB sub station at the rear of the stand would provide ample room for the development of a proper structure. The potential exists to turn the Gaelic Grounds into an impressive, medium sized stadium, all we need now is a bit of ambition!

[kefu]

Two quick points:
1/ Why would anyone bother turning the Gaelic Grounds into a 40k-all seater stadium when clearly there is no demand for such a facility. As has been said, there are insufficient important matches in Munster to require three very large stadiums: Thurles, Cork & Limerick.
2/ GAA stadiums are always going to be more inclined towards uncovered stands/terraces because it is a Summer sport. A roof is expensive, as was seen at Croke Park, where the roof does not cover the first twenty odd rows in the stands because of the price of overhanging that far. Logic for this would obviously include the fact that all important matches take place from May to September.

[vkid]

Possibly one of the worst locations for a stadium ever. If they had any real vision for the place they would have moved it to a green field site and made a fortune on the site. I think GAA is always going to be the poor relation of rugby in Limerick city though.

[kefu]

Always going to be the poor relation of rugby? Ask yourself how long the Heineken Cup has been in existence and even then remember the old Thomond Park didn't sell out for most Magners/Celtic League matches.